Christmas with the Belpois'
by Kiwi Lee Scipio
Summary: What happens after Aélita heads over to the Belpois house hold for Christmas and New Year's? Let's see, mountain home, mother's not dead, attempted rape, people learn the truth, grandma gets found, and two Xana attacks? Yeah, normal for the life of our heroes.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Aélita watched as Sceaux, France turned into country side as she rode along in the back seat of Michel Belpois' car. She knew that not the entire world looked like the sub city of Paris that had been her home for as long as she could properly remember but to see it in person took her breath away.

"Have you never seen the French country side before, Aélita?" Michel asked, glancing up to look at the girl sitting next to his son in the rear-view mirror.

"No, it's beautiful," Aélita said, a smile on her face as rolling hills of peaceful land blurred by. Here and there cows and sheep dotted what of the world she could see. She turned to look at Jérémie in the seat next to her and asked, "How far out is your house?"

"It's about four hours from school," Jérémie offered. "Just outside of Besançon along the edge of the mountains."

"The backyard is higher in elevation then the house," Michel let out a laugh. "I am curious, Aélita, why couldn't you go home for the holidays?"

"Oh, we couldn't afford the plane ticket," Aélita lied, sticking to the same story they had told at Kadic.

"Aren't they going to miss you?" Michel asked.

"Well, I'll still be able to talk to my dad, he's all the family I have left," Aélita lied with a sigh. She quickly remembered she was supposed to be Odd's cousin and added, "At least close family."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Michel's voice trailed off as he took another glance at the teens behind him.

"It's okay," Aélita flashed a smile up at the eyes in the small mirror, hoping to show she meant it.

Michel smiled sadly at the girl before looking back down at the road.

Silence passed through the car for a moment before Jérémie piped up, "Dad? Who's hosting Christmas this year?"

"Oh right, I've been meaning to tell you two about that," Michel said. "We got picked, so sleeping arrangements are going to be a little tight."

Jérémie let out a moan before asking, "Who's all supposed to be there?"

"When I left, Marinette, Adrien, and Patrick had just shown up and Jay was on his way," Michel offered. "Your Grandmére should be arriving later today and tomorrow's when the rest should show up. In total, uh, about eleven."

"A'nt Jane and Aunt Jane are coming with their families?" Jérémie asked, his lack of enthusiasm showing on his face.

"A'nt Jane and Aunt Jane?" Aélita echoed, a smile playing on her lips.

"And their kids," Michel nodded his head.

Jérémie looked at the girl next to him and explained, "Aunt Jane is Mom's sister. She married Uncle Robert a few years ago and have a little girl, uhm…"

"Alexa," Michel offered.

"While A'nt Jane married Mom's brother, Uncle Luc, and have George," Jérémie continued.

"I hope I'm not intruding," Aélita said, her smile faltering at all these names.

"Don't worry, we've all been wanting to meet you," Michel said, a smile on his face. "Our Jérémie's talked about you enough."

"He has, has he?" Aélita eyed the teen at her side, smiling as his face grew red.

"Oh hey, is that Noam Kaniel?" Jérémie asked as the radio changed to a new song. "Turn it up, Dad. I like this song."

Michel took the subject change for what it was, a smile on his face, as he turned the volume up a few notches.

"What _have_ you told them?" Aélita asked, smiling at Jérémie.

"Not much. I may have brought you up a couple of times," Jérémie said, giving her a smile. He looked down at the computer sitting in its bag at his feet, his smile evaporating.

Aélita reached out and grabbed his hand. "Don't worry," she said, her voice low enough the radio covered it from Michel's ears. "Yumi's watching the factory and if Xana attacks, we'll know."

"I can't help but worry," Jérémie admitted, keeping his voice low. "As much as I'm glad you're here, I just fear Xana's going to attack again."

Aélita put her other hand on the hand she already held, encasing it in hers. "Jérémie, if he attacks, Yumi can hold him off until we get there, but for now just enjoy yourself and your time off."

Jérémie let out a sigh. "You're right."

"Good," Aélita said as a yawn escaped her. She rested her head on his shoulder and asked, "How much longer till we're home?" She never heard Jérémie's answer.

AN: Hi again, this is another re-write of an old story I created back in 2011. If you are one of those Lyoko Fans that have been around for a while, you might recognize this story from something on a different fanfic site. I cringe for you. The original version of this story was written by a very horny high school student. I won't give you the link to that version of this story until the very end, because reading that one first would turn you away from me forever… But I re-read it one night and realized there was so much untapped potential to it. Down here I'll be commenting about what changed.

ODD: Does anyone want to read about that?

AÉLITA: Odd, let her work. If she wants to, let her.

ODD: I'm just saying, not everyone buys the commentary special of every movie.

YUMI: You're dating yourself, Odd. It comes on the normal DVDs now.

ODD: Oh… Yeah… Well, not everybody buys the special edition of every movie they want.

AN: Odd.

ODD: What?

AN: Shut up. *sigh* I've got way too many characters up in this head space of mine…

Oh, I realized while re-working this episode, that Patrick hadn't met the gang by Christmas break. But he's Jérémie's cousin so he needed to be there with the family. So, opps. Oh well. See you next chapter and happy early Christmas!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Aélita. Aélita, wake up," Jérémie's voice sounded in her ear.

Aélita slowly opened her eyes only to find herself laying her head on Jérémie's lap. She pushed herself up and stretched her shoulders back before yawning out, "Sorry."

"Long car rides put me to sleep too," Jérémie admitted.

Aélita looked out the window to see the foothills just in sight on the horizon beyond the small town they were driving through. "Where are we?"

"Just down the road from the house," Michel said, taking a turn that led out of the closely built city.

Aélita watched as the road they were on started to climb upwards, ever greens surrounding the road. She felt a hand brushing through her hair, getting her to turn towards Jérémie.

"Oh, sorry," Jérémie said, quickly taking his hand away.

"No, does it need it?" Aélita looked up, running a hand through her hair only to feel a couple of knots.

"Let me help," Jérémie offered, reaching again to flatten down her hair. After a couple of times running his hand through her pink hair, he stopped and smiled at her. "There. Perfect."

Aélita smiled back, thankful for the boy sitting next to her not for the first time in the life she could remember. Her eyes traveled beyond him and found the two and a half story mountain house that they were pulling into the driveway of. Her smile dropped as hints of memories played behind a curtain of fog.

"What is it?" Jérémie asked, worry on his face.

"I know this place," Aélita whispered.

Jérémie eyed her for a moment before looking back at the house. Michel slowed to a stop in front of the house, parking along with a truck and another car.

"We're here," Michel announced, turning the engine off.

Aélita unbuckled herself and pushed open her door, letting a blast of unseasonably warm air into the car. Standing up, she stretched her arms up, letting out a satisfied groan. Fully awake now, she dropped her arms and looked around at the view. A pine forest edged the sloping front yard, hiding the street from view. She turned around, shutting the door, and took in the sight of the house. The front door had an awning made of a porch for the second floor with a white fence. "Christmas," Aélita muttered, her memory playing with her, preventing her from recalling it properly.

"Aélita?" Jérémie asked, reaching up to close the trunk now that he was holding her old suitcase, his father holding Jérémie's.

"Oh, sorry, I can take that," Aélita offered, reaching towards the suitcase.

Jérémie shut the trunk and said, "I've got it."

"Come on, you two," Michel called, walking down the walkway to the front door.

They hurried to catch up to the man as he pushed open the door.

"Honey, we're home!" Michel called out as he placed Jérémie's suitcase down so he could start and unbutton his jacket.

Mrs. Belpois rounded a corner with delicious smells following her. She wiped her hands on the apron tied around her and smiled as she took in the three standing in the doorway. "Jérémie, it's so good to have you home again," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Good to see you, too, Mom," Jérémie said, hugging her back.

Aélita smiled, seeing a lot of Jérémie in his blonde mother.

The woman broke apart from her son and turned to take in Aélita. "And you must be Aélita, Jérémie's told us so much about you."

"All good, I hope," Aélita offered, finding herself in a hug.

"I hope you don't mind us inviting her, Béa," Michel offered as he put his jacket on the coat rack by the door.

Béa let go and nodded her head. "Of course, I don't mind. But oh!" She looked over at her husband as she added, "To save space, I had all the children bunking in the same room."

"Patrick's already in my room?" Jérémie asked, panic in his eyes.

"I moved your robots up to the study to make room," Béa offered. "But there're no more cots."

"Alexa and George are small enough, they could share, and that way Alexa wouldn't be the only girl in the room," Michel offered. He leaned over to his wife and mumbled, "And for now Patrick'll make sure nothing'll happen."

"Dad!" Jérémie exclaimed.

Aélita turned her head away, her face heating up at Michel's hushed words. A black tail disappeared around the corner opposite of the room Béa had come from, getting Aélita to ask, "Do you have a cat?" She looked back at the Belpois' and saw his parents whispering something to Jérémie. She turned back to where the cat tail had disappeared and stepped into the family room. She looked back to where the cat tail had disappeared and stepped into the family room. She looked around for the cat belonging to the tail only to freeze at what she saw. A tree, ready to be decorated with ornaments in boxes along the floor, set in the corner filling the room with the scent of Christmas.

"Daddy, why do we put the tree inside the house? Won't it die?"

Images flashed in front of her eyes, watching Franz and Anthea carrying a fir tree into the same family room.

"It won't die, Aélita," Franz said, laughter in his voice.

The two sat the tree up in the corner and Anthea knelt down in front of Aélita. "Well, if we water it, take care of it, and show it lots of love, then it will survive."

"And for New Years, we'll start the year off by planting the tree up on the hill out back," Franz added, wrapping his arms around the girl. "Just remember to love it."

"Aélita?"

"I will Daddy, I will Momma," Aélita remembered saying, hugging both her parents.

"Aélita, are you okay?"

Aélita blinked open her eyes, seeing the naked Christmas tree in front of her as she realized tears were running down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away as she noticed Jérémie's hand on her shoulder. "Sorry," Aélita mumbled, turning only to find Michel and Béa standing just behind her, worry on their face. Her memories quickly disappeared as her face heated up. "Oh, I'm so sorry to worry you!" Aélita offered.

"Oh sweetie, you don't have to be sorry," Béa offered, placing her hand on Aélita's free shoulder.

"I, uh, did tell them about your memory problem," Jérémie admitted. "You just remembered something, didn't you?"

Aélita nodded her head. "It's like this place is brining my mom back." She looked Jérémie in the eyes as she admitted, "I miss her."

AN: whoa, not much actually changed in these two first chapters. They got written a little better, and I had Patrick and family come in a little earlier, but that was it. Though stupid past me never bothered with naming all the family other than Michel, which we knew from season 4. So Yeah, everyone has a name!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jérémie placed the two suitcases beside the end door of the second floor. He took a breath and placed a hand on the handle before turning and pulling it open.

Aélita quickly grabbed her suitcase, wanting to carry her own weight, and stepped into the room. She quickly took in the room, seeing Jérémie's wooden bed pushed up against the far wall and a desk across the room with an older computer than what he used at Kadic. In between was a cot that already was claimed by the brown haired teen sitting on it, texting away. Along the wall closest to the door was two more cots, making a walkway to a closed door Aélita assumed to be the closet. Aélita went to the cot along the sloped wall Jérémie's bed was pushed against and sat down her suitcase on the bed. "Hello Patrick," Aélita said as she clicked open her suitcase.

"Aélita! What'cha doing here?" Patrick asked, sitting his phone down beside him to look up at the two.

"She's spending Christmas with us," Jérémie informed, unloading his suitcase to put his cloths where they belonged.

A meow caught Aélita's attention, getting her to look over at Jérémie's bed. The black cat she had seen the tail of earlier was getting petted by Jérémie. "There's that cat," Aélita said, walking over to let the cat smell her hand before reaching to pet the cat.

"This is Manchot," Jérémie said, running his hand down the back of the cat as her tail raised.

The cat looked up at Aélita before pushing her head into Aélita's hand.

"I'm surprised she's letting you pet her," Jérémie admitted, looking over at Aélita. "She's normally really shy."

"She's a cute little cat," Aélita commented. "How old is she?"

"Nine," Jérémie said, watching the cat get one more pet before jumping down from the bed. "She'll probably hide out in Mom and Dad's room while everyone's here."

Aélita went back to her cot to pull out Mr. Pück, the scarf Jérémie had given her wrapped around his small body. She placed him sitting so that he leaned against the pillow and smiled at him. Her smiled faltered, remembering when she had gotten the little elf. She thought that might have been the same Christmas as the memory with the tree.

She shook the thoughts from her mind before clasping her suitcase shut and picking it up to place it under her bed only for Jérémie to run into her, dropping the cloths he had in his hands.

"Oh, sorry," Aélita said quickly, picking up the cloths she had made him drop.

"I wasn't paying attention," Jérémie said, grabbing what she didn't.

Aélita put the cloths on her cot and started refolding them. She glanced over at Patrick, seeing he had gone back to texting, and started to ask as she folded a shirt, "Jérémie."

He let out a sound as he quickly grabbed his underwear to take out of her sight. Aélita waited for him to put them in the drawers in his closet before asking, "Is there a hill behind the house that has a tree?"

"Aélita, we're in the middle of a forest," Jérémie pointed out.

"I mean, a fir tree, I think maybe a blue fir?" Aélita added, trying to remember it right.

"Uhm," Jérémie folded up a pair of pants and sat them in the pile Aélita had just finished folding. He grabbed the refolded cloths and took them to the drawers and he said, "Yeah, I think so." He put the cloths in the drawer they belonged to and closed the closet. He turned around to look at her as he asked, "Why? Dad already got a tree."

"Can we go see it?" Aélita asked, not ready to tell him what she was trying to piece together.

"Gives me a reason to keep avoiding Jay," Jérémie shrugged his shoulders.

"Any wonder why I'm hiding here," Patrick said, not lifting his head from the phone.

"Do I wanna know?" Aélita asked, eyeing the two cousins.

Jérémie went over to his bed and closed his suitcase. He glanced over at Patrick, a look passing between them. He picked up the empty suitcase and put it under his bed as he said, "You can make your own opinions of him when we have to see him at dinner."

"If he comes to dinner," Patrick added. "Hope he doesn't."

Jérémie looked at his cousin for a moment; the sound of depressing key strokes filled the air, before he looked back at Aélita. "Come on. You wanna grab a snack on the way out?"

"We've hung out with Odd too much," Aélita let out a laugh as the two walked out of the room.

-.-.-.-

Aélita took a bite out of Béa's homemade nut bar as she followed Jérémie up a well-worn pathway through the woods. She glanced upwards, through the pine needles and noticed dark clouds rolling in. "Is it supposed to rain?"

Jérémie looked up and saw what she did. "I guess," He shrugged his shoulders before looking back at her. "Do you like it?"

Aélita put the last bit in her mouth and nodded her head as the two traversed up the hill behind the mountain house. She managed to swallow most of it and covered her mouth to say, "It's great." She swallowed the rest after a moment and added, "Do you know what all she put in it?"

"The nuts and berries change every time, but it's always held together with peanut butter," Jérémie offered only to trip over a root.

Aélita reached out to help him only for him to catch himself and keep walking. "Are you going to tell me why you wanna see this tree?" Jérémie asked, glancing over his shoulder at the girl.

"Not until I'm certain myself," Aélita admitted.

Jérémie opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask another question only to think better of it, slowing down so that the two walked side by side.

"Tell me about your family," Aélita said, wanting to know more about the people she would be spending the two weeks with. "Is your mother's name Béa?"

"It's short for Béatrice, but it doesn't fit her," Jérémie said, nodding his head. "As far as I know, she's always gone by Béa."

"What do they do?" Aélita placed her hand on a passing pine, the undergrowth giving way at the roots.

"Dad was a stay at home dad, until I moved to Kadic in year five. Now he works as an architectural developer down in Besançon," Jérémie said. "Mom works in cyber security."

"What about your Grandmére?"

"She's… not what I would call normal," Jérémie admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's Dad's mom, maybe that's why Jay's how he is, but she…" Jérémie took a moment to figure out what to say. "Last time I saw her, she drove a Ferrari. Back when she was younger she figured out a way to use radio waves to control the trajectory of rockets. She made sure to keep the patent and it has made her retirement well furbished."

"Can't wait to meet her," Aélita smiled at the teen standing next to her.

"By the time we get back to the house, she might be there," Jérémie said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder to the house. "I forgot how long this path was."

Aélita turned to look back at the pathway upwards only to stop at the sight of a lone fir tree among the pines. "It's still here," Aélita mumbled, surprised as she slowly walked up to the tree. She ran a hand through its nettles, the smell reminding her of that Christmas so long ago.

"Is this what you were looking for?" Jérémie asked, standing next to her as he looked the tree over. He put his hands in his pockets as he said, "I don't understand. How did you know this tree would be here?"

Aélita looked over at him, keeping a hand on the tree to prevent it from disappearing. "Because it was my Christmas tree." Quickly Aélita told Jérémie about the flash back she had had in his family room along with when she had gotten Mr. Pück. "I think the memories with Mom and those wolves also happened here." Aélita turned back in the direction of the house, only just seeing the roof through the trees. "How long have you lived here?"

"All my life, Mom and Dad bought the place before I was born," Jérémie admitted, looking at the house with Aélita. "I think they got it right after they married in '88."

"That'd make since with how old I think I was in those memories," Aélita said, trying to remember more. "And if I was twelve in '94, that would've made me about six when we left." Aélita crinkled her face as she struggled to keep hold of the memories. "I don't remember Mom in the Hermitage, so whatever happened to her, happened here."

"Aélita," Jérémie started, taking her hand in his. "We're going to find out what happened to your mother."

AN: The story with the tree is new. While re-reading the old copy of this, I originally had Aélita have some of her memory flashes (taking the idea that when Franz gave her her memories back, they would slowly come back to her the farther past they were) but had never really taken them anywhere. Even later in the story I had a character mention that even though Aélita and Jérémie knew about something, why didn't they look into it? Goes back to me being a horny high school student when I wrote the original version…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jérémie sat at his computer, the wooden desk chair tight against Patrick's cot as the two waited for the old machine to boot up. "What's her first name, wasn't it Atina?"

"Anthea," Aélita corrected, placing a hand on Jérémie's desk as she leaned next to him. "She always looked to be in her mid-twenties, but I could be wrong." Her brows scrunched as she tried to bring up what memories she had of the woman. "Oh wait!" Aélita turned and rushed over to her cot. She knelt down and pulled out her suitcase, opening it up on the floor. She reached into the inside pocket and pulled out a single piece of paper. Carefully checking it over to make sure the precious piece was okay before she looked at the faces in the picture. It was of her and her parents, taken in front of what she now recognized as the back forest, as if it was taken from the back door. It showed Franz knelling with an arm disappearing behind Anthea's back and his other arm holding tight to Aélita. Anthea held tight to Aélita, planting a kiss on Aélita's cheek as the little girl smiled.

Aélita stood up, leaving the suitcase open on the floor, and walked back to Jérémie. "Here, I found this a couple of days ago in Franz's room in the Hermitage."

Jérémie took the picture out of her hands and looked at it, a sad smile appearing on his face. "I wish I could build you a time machine," Jérémie admitted softly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did one day," Aélita admitted, a smile appearing on her face. Her attention was taken away for a moment as Manchot made her appearance, pushing through the crack in the door. The cat walked over to the desk and jumped up to the clear space, watching what they were doing.

"Why don't you have this in a frame?"

"The frame Daddy had it in was broken," Aélita admitted, running her hand down the black cat's back. "I just haven't gotten it replaced." She turned her eyes back to the computer, seeing the desktop's icons finally loaded up as she avoided his gaze. In truth she just didn't have any money left from what he gave her as an allowance each month and knew she had to wait until the new year.

"But you're right, she does look about twenty-five here," Jérémie said, looking closely at the picture. "Maybe your first day of school."

"You think?" Aélita asked, leaning over Jérémie's shoulder to look at the picture.

"Well, if you look closely, it kinda looks like you have a book bag on," Jérémie said, pointing towards little Aélita's shoulder.

Aélita squinted, just making out a bag strap. "I think you're right. So if I was four or five in this picture, it'd date it to be either '86 or '87."

"Which would've made her born in either '61 or '62," Jérémie said, quickly doing the math. He flipped the picture over only to see the back blank. "Hum."

"What?"

"You'd think with how detailed oriented Franz is, he would've at least put the date on the back," Jérémie said.

"Maybe Momma wasn't as detailed oriented as he was," Aélita offered.

"Maybe…" Jérémie flipped the picture back over and sat it down on his desk. "Okay, let's see if we can get this stupid old hunk o'junk working," Jérémie said, typing away to pull up a few windows.

Aélita watched in silence as Jérémie quickly pulled up local and government records and type in all the information they knew about her mother. Once those two programs started searching through their databases, Jérémie opened up another window and turned his head to look up at her. "Do you mind if I run a search on you? I don't know if it'll pull up anything at all, but it might help."

Aélita nodded her head. "And maybe Daddy as well," she offered.

Jérémie looked back at his screen, punching in Aélita's information, as he asked, "Do you know what year he might've been born in?"

Aélita looked down at the picture she had, trying to gauge how old he would've been then. His dark hair was just starting to gray but what of his face she could see didn't show any wrinkles. "I'm not sure. Maybe about forty-five?" Aélita offered. She quickly ran the simple math in her head and added, "That would make him born around 1940."

Jérémie stopped typing for a moment, realizing, "That'd make him only a few years younger than Grandmére." He turned to look at her, adding, "She just turned seventy this past year."

"Well remember, I am technically twenty-four, not fourteen," Aélita pointed out.

Jérémie curtly nodded his head before returning to running the programs.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Aélita asked, noise from downstairs filtering up through the floorboards. At the noise, Manchot jumped to the floor and made her way to Jérémie's bed, curling up in the pillow.

"Probably a few hours," Jérémie admitted, getting her name running and going to start Franz's. "Back in the eighties, everything wasn't being put to computer yet, and with it being older data, the computers have a lot to go through."

"Jérémie!" Béa's voice called through the door. The blonde woman poked her head into the room and noticed the two. "There you are. Your grandmother just arrived. Why don't you go downstairs and greet her?"

"We'll be down in a bit," Jérémie offered, trying to quickly type in the last bit of information needed to run the search on Franz.

"No, Jérémie, now," Béa ordered, letting go of the doorframe to cross her arms over her chest.

Aélita smiled at the scene playing out before her.

Quickly Jérémie hit enter, getting the program going, before doing his best to stand up in the tight space. He reached for the monitor, turning the screen off and said, "We're coming."

Aélita stepped out of his way, letting him walk away from his computer, and followed Jérémie and Béa out of the room.

Jérémie leaned over to Aélita as they turned to go down the stairs and said, "I'm going ahead and say it now, I'm sorry for whatever happens down there."

Aélita let a smirk and said, "I can't wait to find out." The three stepped down onto the landing and turned to the living room to see a woman with long white hair pulled up in a ponytail talking to a man who looked a lot like Patrick. Sitting on the sofa was a woman with brown hair sitting surrounded by Patrick and Michel.

"Your dear mother's had another idiot ask me out," the woman said, placing a hand on her chest.

"Who was it this time?" Aélita assumed the man was Patrick's dad, the man sounding bored of listening to his mom.

"George Clooney."

"The actor?"

"Hey Grandmére," Jérémie said, leading Aélita over to the older woman.

Grandmére turned towards his voice and smiled. "Jérémie! My, have you grown!" She stepped forward and embraced him in a quick hug. Letting go, she held Jérémie at arm's length and asked, "How's your robots coming along? Still building new ones?"

"Of course," Jérémie said, giving her a smile.

Grandmére noticed Aélita, letting go of Jérémie as she asked, "Who's this?"

"Grandmére, this is Aélita," Jérémie introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Belpois," Aélita said, nodding her head politely.

"Oh none of that, I'm Grandmére to you." The woman put her hand in the small of Aélita's back and said, "Come with me, Aélita. I'd like to talk to you."

Um, Grandmére-"

"Don't worry, Jérémie, I'll take care of her," Grandmére said, leading Aélita out of the front door. They walked outside, Grandmére shutting the door behind them, and walked along the front porch. "Come on dear, sit with me," Grandmére said, sitting down in the metal porch seat.

Aélita sat down in the chair adjacent to the woman, unsure of what to say. "Uh, nice weather we're having for so late in the year."

"Aélita, I didn't ask you out here for small chit-chat," Grandmére said, smiling softly at the girl. "If I remember right, three years ago Jérémie started talking about you. Two years ago he messaged me for help. Today I finally get to meet the girl I'm sponsoring to go to school."

Aélita let out a gasp, covering her mouth. She dropped her hand and quickly said, "Thank you so much."

"Don't tell me you didn't know," Grandmére said, eyeing the girl.

Aélita rested her hands in her lap as she said, "I knew Jérémie's family was helping me pay for school, just not who in particular."

"I know you're a smart girl, Jérémie sends me your report cards every month, but I was hoping to know more about the girl I sponsor." Grandmére leaned back in the chair, a kind smile on her face.

"What would you like to know?" Aélita asked, worry building up in her stomach.

"From what I understand, you're another friend of Jérémie's cousin who also goes to Kadic." Aélita nodded her head. Grandmére eyed the girl before asking, "That's not true, is it?"

Aélita froze, surprised for the woman to say that. "What makes you think that?" Aélita asked, nervously.

"Why else would relatives of the Della Robbia's, who own a museum and I have had the chance to work closely with, require a daughter to fend for herself in another country?" Grandmére asked, her pleasant smile disappearing. "I wanna know what my grandson doesn't. Why you need my help."

"He knows," Aélita said, hardening her face as she worked out what to say. "And all due respect, ma'am, but I can't tell you right now."

Grandmére raised her eyebrows in surprise. "So you don't deny that you're not a part of the Della Robbia family?"

Aélita shook her head gently. "No, I'm tired of lying and I don't want to lie to you or any of Jérémie's family. But I can't tell you the truth. Not yet at least."

A smile slipped through Grandmére's mask. "I'll take that answer. Then can I ask how you and Jérémie met?"

Aélita smiled back at the woman. "He saved me."

"Saved you? Our Jérémie?"

Aélita nodded her head. "I think, one day, you'd like to hear what your grandson really gets up to."

"I'm sure I would," Grandmére nodded her head.

AN: Oh the maths! You do not wanna know how many times I went through this story to make sure I had everyone's ages right! Though I guess I should mention I have always used 2004 as the year Jérémie found Aélita. October 9, 2004. I kinda hate that we didn't get to see much of that first year, since Aélita's "birthday" took place in season 1. But taking that Jérémie and Aélita were twelve in 2004, that would make them born in 1992, Odd and Ulrich born in 1991 (along with Patrick in this story), and Yumi being born in 1990.

All of this chapter is added plot. The original story only took up about 21 pages worth, skimming over Christmas to New Years. At the moment I'm writing this blurb, I'm up to 57 pages in the whole story and only to the day after Christmas. At least I'm working on all of this in April! (Time traveling me, to the future!)

ODD: But, it's October.

AN: To you it is, to me, nope. Still April. Just left winter last week to go straight to summer.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Aélita leaned her head back, letting the bubbles tickle her nose as she soaked in the warm bath. Béa had given her the use of the master bath and her bubble bath while the boys had to make do with the smaller bathroom closer to Jérémie's room. She could hear the water running as someone got a shower, though she didn't know who it was. She lowered herself farther into the warm water, blocking her ears from the outside world.

A part of her wished she could take a bath like this every day but she knew, in the back of her mind, it wouldn't be possible. She could only remember taking a bath at Yumi's house, since Kadic lacked the facilities. Bubbles appeared below her nose as a laugh escaped, the idea of what the Ishiyama's would think if she asked to take a bath every night.

Instead she let her mind replay the last few hours, being properly introduced to Patrick's parents. She still hadn't had the chance to meet Jay, hearing something about him planning to come back past eleven. During dinner she overheard Jérémie's parents talking with Marinette and Adrien about what they would start to do tomorrow once the Jane's and their families arrived. As she took in the memory of sitting at a table surrounded by a family, her mind went back to her conversation with Grandmére.

Thunder sounded, loud enough to resonate in the water.

Aélita took a breath and submerged herself under the bubbles. She hadn't had the chance to tell Jérémie of her conversation with Grandmére yet. A part of her was frightened beyond belief at the prospect of telling the old woman the truth. It combated with a part that wanted to tell her everything. Fear and excitement bubbling up just like the air bubbles escaping her nose.

Aélita pushed her head back above the water, gasping for a breath of fresh air. Whomever had been in the shower was gone, the water no longer sounding in the pipes in the walls. She let out a sigh and stood up, grabbing the plug as she moved. She sat the plug on the side of the tube and stepped out, the sound of water draining filling the air. She reached for the towel Béa had given her, sitting on the toilet lid, and started to dry herself off as her mind changed from the past to the future. It wouldn't be the first time she and Jérémie had slept in the same room, though probably the first time on purpose.

Her mind turned to what Jérémie's computer was still working on, fear filling her at what it might find.

A buzz brought her mind back to the room. She reached down to grab the phone that was still in her dress pocket and pulled it out. She knelt, only dressed in a towel, and looked at the screen.

 **How's it going with Jérémie's family?**

Aélita checked who had sent it, seeing Yumi's name at the top of the screen. She smiled as she texted, **Interesting, though I guess whose family isn't?** She stood up, sitting her phone down on the toilet lid, and finished drying herself off.

As she was putting on her night gown her phone went off again. She picked it up to read, **Is Patrick there?**

 **He's here, though he's been staying on his phone most of the time** , Aélita admitted. She sent that text and started a new one, **How's everything on the home front?**

Aélita grabbed her belongings and opened the bathroom door to find Béa already lying in bed with a book opened, Manchot curled up beside the woman. Béa looked up and smiled at the girl. "Enjoy your bath?"

"Very much," Aélita nodded her head. "Thank you for letting me us it."

"Of course."

"Good night," Aélita said, taking her leave as she felt her phone go off again.

"Good night," Béa called as Aélita closed the bedroom door behind her.

Aélita looked at her phone, stopping aside the wall across from the master bedroom, and read, **Same old same old. Mom and Dad are fighting cause we can't go to Japan for New Year's this year.**

 **I could always take the train back now if you need me,** Aélita texted, worried the girl was mad for being left in charge of Lyoko by herself. She glanced down the hall and pushed herself away from the wall. She really didn't want to go back now, but if she was needed, she would go.

The phone in her hand buzzed again, getting her attention as she walked back into Jérémie's bedroom. She let her feet walk on their own as she looked at the screen.

 **No, enjoy yourself. If I need you, I'll let you know.**

Aélita stopped beside her cot and texted, **Ok, if you're sure.**

"How's everyone back at Kadic?" Patrick asked, getting the girl's attention.

Aélita looked over at him, seeing him sitting cross-legged on his cot in his oversized t-shirt and lounge pants that counted as his pajamas. "Good, I guess. Yumi's the last one in Sceaux," Aélita admitted, knelling down to put her dirty cloths under her bed for the time being. She stood up and asked, "How's the school search been?"

Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "It's looking like next year I'll be going to Martinière Monplaisir, in Lyon. It's about an hour from home so perfect for what my parents want."

"I think Kadic's foot team plays against them," Aélita said, remembering the school name from watching Ulrich play soccer.

"It'd be cool to play against him," Patrick smiled.

"Is any of your friends going to that school?" Aélita asked, sitting down on the edge of her cot. She remembered from when he came to Kadic that the school he was currently going to was folding under after this year. Apparently the news had been quite sudden, forcing anyone not graduating this year to find a new school.

"Arthur might, his parents are looking into it," Patrick admitted. "Though no one else is."

"I don't think you'll have any problems making friends," Jérémie said as he walked into his room in his pajamas.

"I'm still sorry 'bout that," Patrick said, wincing.

"No, I truthfully mean it," Jérémie shook his head, stepping over to the computer. He didn't bother moving the chair as he leaned over to turn the monitor back on.

"Well… thanks," Patrick said, surprise written on his face.

Aélita jumped off her cot and took the few steps to stand next to Jérémie. "Did it find anything?"

Jérémie flicked through the open windows faster than Aélita could read but saw a few records did get pulled up. "Yeah, I'll save these so we can read them tomorrow," Jérémie said, slightly nodding his head towards Patrick behind them.

"What are you two working on?" Patrick asked, sitting up on his knees to try and look over Jérémie's shoulder.

"Just a school project," Aélita lied quickly, turning to look at the teen.

"Why do they give us school work during break?" Patrick asked, dropping down to sit on his heels. "I've gotta book report due on Le Mer au Diable."

"You mean La Mare au Diable?" Jérémie asked, closing the windows on screen before turning the computer off.

"Yeah, it's in my bag," Patrick shrugged.

"The sooner you get it done-"

"I know, I know," Patrick cut Aélita off, holding his hands up to stop her. "I'll get working on it tomorrow. You'll be busy tomorrow too, huh?"

Aélita took a look at Jérémie before looking back at Patrick. "Did I miss something?" Aélita asked, leaning back against the desk.

"I've gotta take my Highway Code test," Jérémie admitted, his voice dragging.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Aélita tried.

Jérémie took a moment before admitting, "It's my second time taking the test."

"You failed something?" Patrick exclaimed.

"Everyone fails a test once in their life," Aélita offered, placing a hand on Jérémie's shoulder.

Jérémie turned his eyes to her and asked, "Have you failed a test?"

Aélita took her hand back, knowing he already knew the answer to his own question. "I refuse to answer that," Aélita said instead.

Jérémie gave her a smile as Patrick said, "Aélita, you're lucky. Canada's law on how to get your learners is a whole lot simpler than France's."

"It doesn't do me any good," Aélita said, looking back at the teen. "I'm always over here."

"True."

"Knock, knock," Michel's voice called as his head poked into the room. "Time for bed, you three."

"Alright, Uncle Michel," Patrick said, getting off his bed to pull his covers down.

Aélita moved out of Jérémie's way, going over to her own bed. "Good night," Aélita said as Jérémie said, "Night Dad."

Aélita grabbed hold of Mr. Pück and moved him so she could get into bed.

"Night," Michel said, flicking the lights off before walking away.

"Oh crud, he left the door cracked," Patrick said, his cot squeaking as Aélita laid down in hers. She turned to see him shutting the door, leaving the only light be the red dot from Jérémie's charging laptop and the alarm clock on Jérémie's night stand.

The front door slammed open down stairs, getting Aélita to jump. "What was that?" she asked, sitting up.

"Crud, I was hoping to be asleep before he got home," Jérémie mumbled as he sat down on his bed.

"Is that Jay?" Aélita asked, seeing their silhouettes as her eyes grew accustom to the darkness. She could see Jérémie placing his glasses on his nightstand as Patrick got back into his squeaky cot.

"Yeah, he must've gotten kicked out of the pub," Patrick said, his figure looking at the clock to see it was still before midnight.

Aélita laid back in bed, clutching Mr. Pück tightly to her chest.

AN: Getting back on track, and thank you Patrick. For some reason, younger me had this house have, like, a million rooms. Somehow, Aélita and Jérémie ended up in a room all to their selves. Even with having four full families and Jay and Grandmére. Grandmére only had one scene and was called Nanna at the time, and Jay was actually based of my great uncle to an extent. The real Jay is dead now. Weird. Too bad I didn't make his character a little better in this… I think I made him more like his son, that I've never met, 'cause he's in jail.

ODD: Your family's weird.

AN: And yours isn't?

ODD: True.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Jérémie!"

Aélita opened her eyes as sun streamed in through shear curtains.

"Wake up, kiddo!" the male voice called out as knocks sounded against the door.

"Jérémie, it's for you," Patrick's voice said as his cot squeaked to show he had turned over.

"Come on, Jérémie, your test is in an hour," the voice said as the door to the bedroom opened. He stopped just in the doorway as Aélita turned around, taking in the sight of the man. He reminded her of a younger Jim, the man a little overweight wearing gray sweat pants and a graphic tee. "Oh, wow, you two had some fun last night, with a girl in your room. Didn't take you to be a lady's man, Jérémie."

"Jay," Jérémie said as Patrick said, "Shut up, Jay."

Aélita pushed herself up, throwing her feet over the edge as Jay said, "Hurry up, Jérémie, your dad wants to get going soon. And we'll be doing some last minute Christmas shopping once you're done." He turned around and walked out of the room, waving a hand over his shoulder.

"We?" Jérémie echoed, putting his glasses on.

-.-.-.-

Aélita rested her head on the palm of her hand as she tried to get comfortable in the wooden chair waiting of Jérémie to finish the test. She had seen the others in his driving class go into the room to take the test but she didn't know what it all included. She looked up at the analog clock on the wall and saw it had almost been an hour.

"But Mommy!"

Aélita looked at the sound and saw a child of about five reaching for something like Odd's GameBoy in the woman's hand.

"No, Gunther, you've spent too much time this morning on this thing," the mother said, putting the game in her purse.

"I can't see you being like that when you were that age," Jay said, leaning over from his seat beside her.

"I don't know," Aélita admitted, lifting her head to look at him.

"Jay," Michel warned, looking up from the book he had brought along to read.

"It's okay, Mr. Belpois," Aélita said. She looked back at Jay, realizing he was actually closer to her real age as she explained, "I have a memory problem. I can only remember the past few years."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jay offered.

"It's okay," Aélita shrugged, dropping her hands to her lap.

"So are you planning to get your learners?" Jay asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm never home, so probably not," Aélita admitted.

"Right, you're Canadian," Jay said. "So you don't have to go through all this rigmarole."

"This what?" Aélita asked, not understanding that last word.

"Well, it takes about a year and a half for normal people to get their learners. Our Jérémie's made it through the Highway Code part in half the time, even with failing the test the first time," Jay explained. "Once he passes this, then it's off to actual driving lessons that'll probably take the whole of summer vacation."

"I don't remember reading all that," Aélita said, remembering from when she would fill her free time on Lyoko with reading about Earth. Quickly realizing how that might sound, she asked, "Does he get his license after that?"

"No, he'll have a year of driving with his parents and the Conduite Accompagnée sticker in the window and France doesn't give licenses until they're eighteen," Jay said, reaching over to the coffee table in front of them to sift through the magazines in front of them. "Honestly it's easier if you just wait till you're an adult to get it. Takes half the time at least."

The door opened to the testing room, getting Aélita to sit up in her seat as students left the room all holding papers. Jérémie walked over to them, his eyes on the page in his hand.

"Well?" Michel asked, closing his book as his stood up.

Jérémie handed the paper to his dad and said, "I passed."

"That's great," Michel said, taking the paper in one hand as he patted the hand still holding the book against Jérémie's back.

"Good, now we can go get Christmas presents," Jay said as he and Aélita got to their feet. "Nothing like waiting to the last day to get gifts."

"Aélita, is there any place you wanna go?" Michel asked as he folded Jérémie's test report in half to place it in his book.

"I don't have any money," Aélita admitted, just realizing she should get something for Jérémie's family.

"Don't worry about it," Michel said, smiling at the girl. "Come on, let's go through the town."

AN: Hey, the driving junk! Shows how old I was when I wrote the original version of this, I was just starting to go through the process, forced by my mother, to get my learners. I was a weird kid, I didn't want to start driving. Honestly I still hate it.

JÉRÉMIE: Why did I have to fail the first time though? I never fail anything.

AN: That's exactly why you needed to fail the first test. Though originally Jay teased you about it. He was a little brutal.

JÉRÉMIE: *mumbling so I can't hear him*

AN: Have you really never failed a test in your life? Really?

JÉRÉMIE: *walks out of the room*

AN: Ok, touchy subject with Einstein.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Looks like the last of them arrived," Jay announced as Michel pulled up the driveway.

Aélita took in the new car and large van that lined the drive, angled so people could still drive out. They stopped at the end of the line, Michel killing the engine. Aélita grabbed the four presents already wrapped at her feet, getting them comfortable in her hands before she got out of the car. She'd given a lot of thought to Grandmére's gift, the woman who had everything and wanted nothing. She gripped Grandmére's present tighter, worried if she dropped it. She got out of the car, shutting the door behind her with her elbow.

"Tomorrow we gotta go to Midnight Mass, don't we?" Jay asked, standing at the trunk as Michel popped it open.

Aélita waited next to the man as he and Jérémie pulled out bags and boxes, already wrapped and ready for Christmas, as Michel closed his door. "Do you not like going to church?" Aélita asked, trying to gauge how the large man had said it.

Jay let out a sound of indecision as he stood straight, the presents piling up to just under his chin. "I only go when I have to. How 'bout you, girly?"

Aélita repositioned the scarf Jérémie had given her, worried it would get caught in her presents, and smiled at the man, "Actually, Jérémie got me going weekly," _or as close to it,_ Aélita added silently.

"Hum, maybe I should get back into going more often," Jay said. "It just might impress you."

"Shut up, Jay," Michel ordered as he took out the last bag and shut the trunk lid.

Aélita glanced over at Jérémie, hiding her blushing cheeks behind her scarf. She noticed Jérémie's face was red as he stared at his uncle. She gave him a gentle nudge, bumping her shoulder against his, to get his attention. Jérémie turned to her, his face quickly cooling down. He gave her a lopsided smile that only heated Aélita's face up. She glanced at the men walking to the house before quickly leaning over to Jérémie to kiss him on the cheek. Without seeing his reaction, she turned to go inside, seeing Jay disappear into the mountain house.

Michel turned around and called out, "Come on, Jérémie! Before you freeze yourself to the spot."

Aélita stepped onto the porch and turned around to smile at Jérémie's frozen state.

"What did you do to my son?" Michel asked, a smile on his face as laughter hid behind his eyes. "He froze."

"His processors can't handle it," Aélita said, laughter in her voice. She sat her presents on the porch table before retracing her steps back to Jérémie. She grabbed the boxes out of his arms and said, "Come on, Jérémie, it'll snow tonight."

"You kissed me," Jérémie said, his face red in blush.

Aélita let out a laugh as she bumped into him again, her arms full. "Come on, your dad's waiting for us."

Jérémie let out a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. Aélita watched in awe as his face turned back to its light peach color. He opened his eyes and walked away from Aélita, back to the house.

Aélita smiled, dreams of the future playing in her mind, as she followed him.

Michel patted a hand on Jérémie's shoulder as his son passed him. He saw Aélita's arms full as she remembered her bags still sitting on the patio table. She looked over at them, about to say something when Michel said, "I'll get them. Go put those in the family room."

"Thank you," Aélita nodded her head at him as she followed Jérémie into the house. She turned into the family room only to find the large room filled with people.

"I don't wanna sleep with a girl!" a boy of about seven whined, pointing a finger at a girl a few years younger than himself.

"I don't wanna sleep with you either," the girl said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You kick in your sleep."

"I'm sorry about this," Béa said, looking at the two women younger than herself.

Aélita followed Jérémie, placing the gifts in her hands on the table beside the tree. "Who are they?" Aélita asked in a hushed voice.

Jérémie worked on piling the boxes to save space as he said, "George and Alexa are the kids, the blonde woman's mom's sister, Aunt Jane, and the red head's A'nt Jane."

"Here's the last of them," Michel announced, appearing next to Aélita as he placed her gifts on the table.

"Thank you," Aélita nodded, helping Jérémie finish organizing what was there. The room quieted down, getting her to glance over her shoulder to see the five had disappeared.

"Come on, Aélita, we've gotta go!"

Aélita found herself in what looked like Jérémie's room, void of all belongings. "I'm coming!" she recalled yelling towards her father's voice. Instead of leaving the room, she walked over to the far wall where a knot sat in the wood on the floor. She followed the knot to the floor that should be under Jérémie's desk, remembering pushing against the floor as she looked for something.

"Aélita? Are you okay?" Michel's voice pulled her back to the present, getting her to shake her head of the webs that wanted to cover her.

"Oh, sorry," Aélita said, holding her forehead as she tried to understand what she had just remembered.

"Was it your memory?" Jérémie asked, worry in her eyes.

"I'm… not sure," Aélita admitted.

"Do they normally come back so close together like this?" Michel asked.

"No," Aélita shook her head.

"But it could be a sign you'll get all your memories back soon," Jérémie said, hopeful.

"Where is everyone?" Grandmére asked as she stepped into the family room. The three looked at her as she said, "I wanna get this tree decorated."

"We'll go find them," Jérémie offered, leading Aélita out of the room.

Aélita followed him up the stairs as Michel turned to go into the kitchen. "I'll check your side of the house," Aélita offered as they got to the second floor landing.

"Okay, I'll check that side," Jérémie said, already turning towards his parent's room.

Aélita turned to Jérémie's door, seeing it was already cracked open. She gently wrapped her knuckles against the wood as she called out, "Hello?"

"Yeah?"

Aélita pushed open the door to find George sitting on the cot next to hers.

"George, your junk's taking up all the space underneath," Alexa's voice called from behind the cot.

"Well if we didn't have to share a bed," George said, rolling his eyes. He looked up at Aélita standing in the doorway and asked, "Who are you?"

"Aélita," she said quickly, unbuttoning her coat to take it off. "Grandmére wants everyone in the family room to decorate the tree."

George jumped off his cot and walked over to Aélita, looking up at her. "You're the reason why I have to share my bed."

Aélita felt guilt worm its way into her chest. "Sorry," she tried.

George let out a grunt, walking past her to leave the room.

Aélita turned her eyes to the girl, her blonde hair pulled up in pigtails as she stood with her plush raccoon in her hands. She went to sit it on the bed only to second guess herself.

"You can put him on my bed, with Mr. Pück," Aélita offered.

Alexa looked at the girl for a second before turning around to look at Aélita's cot.

Aélita stepped into the room and over to the girl, laying her coat and scarf on the foot of the bed as the girl placed the raccoon next to Mr. Pück. "What's his name?"

"Jean-Luc," Alexa offered.

"Well, let's leave Jean-Luc and Mr. Pück to get to know each other," Aélita said, smiling at the thought of her elf befriending a raccoon. "Grandmére's waiting for you."

"Thank you, 'Lita," Alexa said, smiling up at the girl before turning to leave the room.

Aélita watched the girl leave only for her eyes to drift over to Jérémie's desk, her memories coming back to her. She walked over to where Patrick's cot and the desk had a small space in between. She pushed the chair all the way under the desk and knelt down, running a hand against the wood floor where a knot was visible, noticing the wood uneven.

"Aélita?"

Aélita's heart skipped in surprise as she jumped to her feet and turned around to see Jérémie standing in the doorway.

"They're all waiting on us downstairs," Jérémie offered, throwing his thumb over his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry," Aélita said, hurrying to leave the bed room. She quickly threw a glance over her shoulder, wondering what her younger self was looking for.

AN: Okay, about the Aunt Jane and A'nt Jane thing, I don't know how many people have this problem in their family but on my mom's side, I have both an Aunt and an A'nt Sheryl. One of them is my great-grandma's sister and the other one married into the family. Though my family has it backwards, so the country pronunciation of it "A'nt" is the one that was born into the family and the "Aunt" is the one married into it. Does not help me keeping these two straight, but I figured making A'nt Jane a red head might help keep my brain.

Also, those of us out there with names beginning in an A have all come to a point when someone drops off the A in the name. I even did it to my closest aunt, a bad pronunciation that has followed me all my life and her, Aleta, and just call her 'Leta. I figured Alexa would have the same problem with pronouncing Aélita's name, though it does make me want to call her 'Lexa.

ODD: You have an aunt named Aleta?

AN: Yeah.

ODD: Isn't that the American spelling of Aélita's name?

AN: Je ne sais pas. I guess it is, though not many people have it anymore and no one can pronounce it right.

ODD: Aleta. What's so hard with that?

AN: It's sad when a New Zealander/French can sound out English phonics better than most Americans.

ODD: I don't get where the problem is.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I like your family," Aélita said as they walked back up to Jérémie's room. The tree was properly decorated, the presents now moved under the tree, and most of the parents were in the kitchen, cooking. Aélita had offered to help only to be told by Béa that she was a guest and shouldn't be cooking. At least it gave her and Jérémie some time, Aélita reflected.

"Well Jay's behaving himself, sort of," Jérémie offered, pushing open the door only to find Patrick sitting on his bed with his French Literature text book open in his lap, staring at George and Alexa arguing over their cot.

"I never asked you to be my cousin," George said.

"I can't help it," Alexa said, her voice sounding like she was close to tears.

"How long has this been going on?" Jérémie asked Patrick as he turned on both his laptop and desktop.

"Right after they followed me up here," Patrick said, closing his book. "That's it. I gotta find a quiet place to read this stupid story. I can't get passed « il faut pourtant te décider à reprendre femme » without someone yelling."

Aélita walked over to the girl and knelt down to be eye to eye with her. "Alexa, why don't _we_ share a bed? That way you don't have to sleep with a stinkin' boy," Aélita said, a smile on her face.

"Really, 'Lita?" Alexa asked, smiling. Aélita nodded her head only to find herself in a hug. "Thank you!"

"Sure, it'll be fun," Aélita offered, hugging the girl back. She let go of the girl and stood up. "Now I heard someone downstairs was working on baking cookies. Maybe you two could go see if they need a taste tester?"

"Last one to the kitchen's the looser*!" George called out, running out of the bed room.

"No fair!" Alexa exclaimed, running after the boy.

Aélita watched her leave, their voices loud enough they could be heard going down the stairs.

"Thanks, maybe now I can read this stupid thing," Patrick said, opening his book back up.

Aélita walked over to see what Jérémie was doing only to see him close his laptop and disconnect it from the desktop. He grabbed the closed laptop and turned to face the girl.

"You wanna grab your coat?" Jérémie asked. "I figured we could work on this up on the hill."

"Oh, okay." Aélita turned around and stepped back to her cot to grab her coat and scarf. She followed Jérémie out of the house, him grabbing his coat from the base of the stairs as they left. The two walked out the back door and back up the hill.

"Uh, thanks, for what you did for Alexa," Jérémie said, keeping his eyes to the ground as they hiked.

"I am why they were forced to share the bed," Aélita tried. She remembered she hadn't told Jérémie about her conversation with Grandmére and said, "Your grandmother knows I'm not Odd's cousin."

Jérémie stopped, turning his head to show his panicked face. "What _does_ she know?"

Aélita stopped next to him and admitted, "I told her I couldn't tell her the truth when she asked about who I really was, and she left it at that. I'm tired of lying and I don't want to lie to your family."

"I don't like lying either," Jérémie admitted with a sigh. He turned back to the path, continuing on his way up.

Aélita followed him up and added, "I think she deserves to know."

"I wanna check with the others before we do," Jérémie said, "but I have thought about it."

They walked the reminder of the forest path in silence. Aélita took in the sight of the lone fir tree standing tall in the pine forest and sat down at its roots. Jérémie sat down beside her, his legs stretched out before them as he opened his laptop on his lap.

"Who do you want to start with?" Jérémie asked, pulling up a folder lacking a name. Inside was three folders all caring the name of her family members.

"I guess myself," Aélita said, not expecting much out of her folder.

Jérémie clicked open the folder and opened the text document he had saved the previous night. "I think it's only a missing person's report," Jérémie said as it opened. "Yeah, here."

Aélita leaned over to read what it said. "My middle name's Rosa?" Aélita asked, caught by the first line.

"Aélita Rosa Hopper, I like it," Jérémie offered with a smile.

The two turned back to the page and Aélita continued going down the document. Sadly birth date was left blank though it showed she had indeed been twelve when she disappeared. According to this, she was last seen September 10, 1994 when leaving Kadic for the school day with her father. The report wasn't filed until the following week by "Susan Hertz!?" Aélita exclaimed aloud.

"Right, she worked with Franz Hopper, didn't she?" Jérémie offered, realizing it as he said it. "I didn't know you had gone to Kadic back then."

"I guess it makes sense, with Daddy working there," Aélita said. "What did his name pull up?"

Jérémie closed out of her file and back up to click on the folder labeled Franz Hoper. Three documents were saved under his name. Jérémie clicked on the first one, letting Aélita read the adult version of her missing person's report. Franz Adam Hopper, birth date December 31, 1940. "He's gotta birthday coming up soon," Aélita remarked, smiling now that one of her family had a birthday. Jérémie nodded his head, getting her to continue reading. Last seen the same day as she had been, also filled out by Mrs. Hertz.

Jérémie looked over to her and asked, "Next?"

Aélita nodded her head, watching Jérémie close that document and go to the next. This one was a police report filled out through the National Police of Paris. Franz Adam Hopper was suspected on September 21, 1994… "Of the possible murder of his daughter, Aélita Rosa Hopper? What!?" Aélita exclaimed.

"I guess it makes sense," Jérémie offered, scrolling to the bottom of the report. "You two disappeared out of nowhere and without any leads as to what happened…" Jérémie's voice trailed off. "Wait a second, read this!"

Aélita looked at the bottom of the document and read, "Terminated due to Directorate-General for External Security** interference?" She looked back at Jérémie and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not sure," Jérémie admitted, closing the document and opening the last. "This one's government papers, maybe the last piece of his puzzle."

Aélita looked at the last document and read through it. The French Republic's DGSE had commissioned Franz A. Hopper for the use of his scientific research. Skimming through the document just showed her what she already knew, X.A.N.A, or Xanadu Artificial Neotype of Analysis as he was properly called, was created as a military defense program and was given a virtual world that used an advance modeling system to learn in before being given access of the real world. "Is this why the police were pulled out of searching for him?" Aélita wondered aloud.

"It makes me wonder, what all _does_ the government know?" Jérémie asked, closing the document as he looked at the girl sitting beside him. "I mean, the man who was working on a government project and his daughter goes missing? Something's not adding up. They should've done more."

"They turned the supercomputer off after Daddy and I went to Lyoko," Aélita reminded. "Maybe the DGSE did that and to prevent the police from finding out about Lyoko or us, they interfered. But that does still leave so much unanswered."

"Like why they trapped you and Franz in Lyoko?" Jérémie offered, looking back at his screen as he closed out of that folder and opened Anthea's folder. Only two documents sat in the folder, both untitled.

Aélita swallowed a lump forming in her throat as Jérémie opened the first document, surprised to find it another French Republic report. I, Anthea L. Hopper, agree to be used as a test subject to the virtualization process created by Franz A. Hopper.

"She went to Lyoko?" Jérémie mumbled as he read.

"I never found any record of another person being virtualized in Lyoko," Aélita said, recalling the first year she truly remembered. "Though when the super computer was turned off, a lot of memory was wiped," _my problem still to this day,_ Aélita added to herself.

Jérémie closed the page and opened the last document only to read a death certificate.

Tears formed at the corners of Aélita's eyes, not fully expecting the worst. Anthea Lynn Hopper died in Sceaux, France due to cardio arrest on August 7, 1991. In the space dedicated to the funeral director's notes, she was labeled as being cremated. Aélita stared at the screen, her sight blurring as tears filled her eyes.

"Aélita?" Jérémie's voice got her attention as he placed an arm around her shoulder. "Aélita, I'm so sorry."

*In French, this is the closest equivalent to "last one's a rotten egg".

** Directorate-General for External Security or the DGSE is the closest French equivalent to the American FBI I could find.

AN: Yay! This time through I actually did my research! And I also got myself a French Lit Textbook, which is where Patrick's school project came from. I haven't had the chance to read far into The Devil's Pool, but the line I have up there is "Why can't you decide to get yourself a wife". Earlier Patrick remembered it wrong and called it The Devil's Sea, I forgot to mention about that didn't I?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Aélita found herself sitting at the kitchen table, now deemed the kid's table, with Jérémie and Patrick as George and Alexa were getting their plates filled. Aélita looked down at her meal of pork chops, mashed potatoes, and cooked carrots, grabbing her silverware to start and cut up her pork. She had known since she had found out she was Franz Hopper's daughter that there was always a chance her mother was dead. But to read her death certificate made it final. Her Momma was dead.

"We'll always be stuck at the kid's table," Patrick was saying while he ate. "You remember when Jay was stuck with us?"

"I remember he was always trying to get us to do stupid things," Jérémie replied.

"I hate carrots," George said as he walked back into the kitchen. Aélita looked up to see him walking in with Alexa following him.

"You could've gotten peas," Alexa offered, going straight for the seat next to Aélita. She sat her plate down before pulling out the chair. She walked over to the wall and picked up her booster seat, climbing into the chair now high enough for her to eat at the table.

"I hate peas," George mumbled, sitting next to Patrick.

Aélita noticed Alexa still sat a bit far from the table, quickly saying, "Hang on. Let me push you closer." She got out of her chair and helped the little girl before sitting back down to continue her dinner.

"I thought you wanted to be a firefighter when you grew up," Patrick said, eyeing George.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, to get muscles, you need your vegetables," Patrick pointed out. "And you need to be strong to be a firefighter."

George took a look at his carrots before giving a grunt and stabbing them with his fork to eat them.

"Are you okay, Aélita?" Patrick asked, his eyes finding her.

She gave him a smile, not feeling it within, as she said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You've been awfully quiet since you two came back from working on your project," Patrick pointed out.

"Patrick-"

"It's okay," Aélita said, cutting Jérémie off. She looked over at Patrick across the table and said, "The project is a family tree. My father never told me after I lost my memory what had happened to my mom. I had had hope…" she remembered about the younger two and used them as an excuse to not say much more then adding, "until today."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Patrick offered.

"Thanks," Aélita gave him a smile, this time meaning it.

"You can share my Mommy," Alexa offered, a bite of pork still in her mouth.

"Aw, thank you Alexa," Aélita said, putting her arm around the girl to give her a side hug. Letting go she added, "But I'll be fine."

"If anybody'd be her mom, it'd be Aunt Béa," George said before stuffing a forkful into his mouth.

"Why-Why do you say that?" Jérémie asked, almost choking on his dinner. He grabbed his glass to take a sip, eyeing George for an answer.

"Well, she is your girlfriend," George said, looking at the teens like it was common knowledge.

Aélita felt her cheeks go red as she quickly said, "He-He's not… We're not dating." She shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth as her heart wanted to yell out the truth. Jérémie was the first person she saw when she had been trapped in Lyoko, the first person she saw when she came to Earth, and the only person to get her heart going fast. She had told him while she was still on Lyoko, though sadly not in those specific words.

"Really?" George asked, eyeing the girl.

"Is your mom gonna hook up the TV so we can watch the lancer du gâteau aux fruits tomorrow?" Patrick asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah, Uncle Westley's in it again this year," George nodded his head.

"Lancer du gâteau aux fruits?" Aélita asked, glad for the change in subject.

"Uh, best if A'nt Jane explains it tomorrow," Jérémie said, Aélita noticing his cheeks still blushed as he finished his dinner.

-.-.-.-

Aélita waited while Jérémie was changing cloths in the bathroom for her turn, the only one in the room at the moment while everyone else's parents wanted them. She knelt down to pull out a list she had made, going over what all she had gotten as a meow took her attention. Manchot took her free hand to get petted while she went over what she had gotten for presents. Grandmére, Michel, Béa, and Patrick were all covered though she still had no idea what to do for Jérémie and now she wanted to get something for Alexa. She hid the list back in her suitcase and stood up to leave the room, small paws following her out. She walked down the hall and made it to Jérémie's parent's room, seeing the door was still opened. She lightly knocked on the door, poking her head in as Manchot went ahead and walked in. Aélita saw Béa sitting on the bed while the water in the closed bathroom ran, noticing the woman to be sewing something.

"Yes Aélita? Something I can help you with?" Béa asked, patting the bed beside her to give Aélita a seat as she placed her work on her other side. She quickly picked it back up as Manchot jumped onto the bed.

Aélita walked over, sitting beside the woman and asked, "I need some help. I want to get something for Jérémie for Christmas but I couldn't when we went shopping and I couldn't come up with anything that seemed right."

"You could make him something small, I'm sure he'd appreciate anything you made," Béa said, looking down at what she was working on. "Can you sew?"

Aélita looked at the bit that looked like it might be a bear's head, inverted for the woman to work on. "I don't know," Aélita admitted with a shrug.

"You could make him a paper craft or even maybe code something for him, he's told me you help him out with some of his computer projects," Béa offered. "You could use my laptop if you want."

"Actually, I might try the sewing," Aélita said, an idea in her mind. "Do you have any black?"

Béa dropped to her feet and reached under the bed, pulling out a long tub. She pulled off the lid to reveal a plethora of fabrics and felts. "I think so," Béa said, pulling out plain black cloth.

Aélita smiled, jumping off the bed to pull out what she could use. Grabbing what she thought she would need, she said, "Thank you."

"Of course. Can I ask why you have in mind?" Béa asked.

Aélita looked over at the cat grooming herself on the bed and smiled as she shook her head. "Sorry."

"Well, if you need anything else, just let me know," Béa offered.

Aélita gave her a smile before clutching close the beginnings of her present. She left the room and silently poked her head back into Jérémie's room, glad to see only Patrick there. She rushed over to her bed and dropped to the floor, quickly hiding what was to be Jérémie's present. She glanced over at Patrick, seeing him staring at her curiously. She placed a finger to her lips as she heard footsteps walking into the room. Quickly grabbing her nightgown, she stood up and kicked her suitcase closed as she saw Jérémie walk over to his bed.

Aélita headed out of the room, making it to the bathroom to quickly change cloths and made it back into the bedroom to put her dirty cloths back under her bed. She stood up and moved Mr. Pück and Jean-Luc up onto the pillow as she pulled down the blankets.

"I'm good, I don't need you to tuck me in," Alexa said, her footsteps sounding as the girl and her mother appeared in the doorway.

"Are you sure?" Aunt Jane asked, following the girl to the cot.

Alexa pulled herself up onto the cot and said, "Yap, I've got 'Lita."

Aélita smiled up at the brown haired woman, unsure as to what to say.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Aunt Jane asked as her daughter pulled the blankets up over herself.

Aélita noticed Jérémie and Patrick watching silently from their side of the room as she nodded her head. "Yeah, it's fine."

Aunt Jane smiled at the two before saying, "Okay, good night." She leaned down to kiss Alexa on the forehead as the girl held her raccoon close before adding, "Sweet dreams."

"Night Mommy," Alexa said sweetly.

"Night Mom!" George called as he walked into the bedroom.

Aélita went ahead and got into the cot, wrapping her arms around Mr. Pück as she got comfortable beside the small girl. The room was full, with five people all sleeping in Jérémie's bedroom, but it felt comfortable to Aélita.

"Everybody ready?" Aunt Jane asked, making her way to the doorway.

"Yes ma'am," Aélita said in the choirs of similar responses.

"Good night," Aunt Jane flicked the light off and closed the door behind herself.

AN: Ok, for those of you know don't know, Code Lyoko was made in France. So if you see something written in French, it's to be taken as if it was in English for them. I'm the weird-o nerd who actually got into the language so I could one day watch it with the original voices. Now I am ^^ and so glad I got the DVDs from back when they were only 30 euros each. I sadly never got the collection for season 1 in French (though seasons 2-4 I do have ^^), just the English for season 1, and went looking to get the French. It'd be close to 300 euros for me to get season 1 now. They're collectors' items now! Who would've thought! If I had known all Code Lyoko merch was going to end up this way, I wouldn't've slept with my Odd action figure. His hands broke off. I got them glued back on, but he can't shoot Fleche Laser no more… He can't rotate his wrists. Then again, I could never part with my little Odd.

ODD: I don't know if to be flattered or disgusted.

AN: Maybe you should be a little of both. I made a life sized poster of you that people are still asking to buy off me. I need to make new posters for Code Lyoko, at the time I was taping copy paper together and getting the librarian to laminate them. I went through a lot of colored pencils back then.

AN: Oh, by the way, we are now at the point where these will be coming out bi-daily? Is that the right word to use? Every other day, how about that. There's a lot of chapters I wanna get out before New Years.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Aélita found herself back in Jérémie's room, empty of all belongings and cots. Once again she walked over to where Jérémie's desk ought to be and found the knot in the wood floor. She followed the plank, running her fingers along it until she found a lose section. Nothing looked any different but she could feel a slight wobble beneath her finger tips. She dug her fingernails into the side of the plank and pulled, feeling it open.

Aélita opened her eyes to find herself looking out of the window of Jérémie's room, the shear curtains letting in sunlight. She took in a deep breath, wishing she knew what she was doing in both her dream and her vision. She turned over only to realize she had the cot to herself. She found Jean-Luc sitting, looking at her with his little brown eyes as if wishing her a good morning.

Aélita pushed herself up and noticed she was the last one in the room. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was already past ten. She threw her feet off the bed and stood up, leaving Mr. Pück where he slept. She turned to get her cloths only to lay eyes on Jérémie's desk. Her mind flew back to her dream and vision, getting her to walk over to his desk. She knelt down in the space between Patrick's cot and Jérémie's desk, straddling the plank with the knot. Running her hand along the plank, she gave it pressure every now and then until she felt it give a little. Glancing over her shoulder to see the door was closed, she turned back to the plank and dug her fingernails into the soft side of the wood. She gave it a sharp tug, surprised at how easily it came up.

She laid the plank beside her, more under Patrick's bed, and looked into the secret compartment she had unveiled. A thick coating of spider silk covered in dusk but under all of that looked to be an old metal lunch box. She reached in, ignoring the spider webs, and pulled out the box.

The door opened behind her, getting her to jump and turn around, still sitting on the floor in her nightgown with the old metal box in hand.

"Aélita?" Jérémie asked, standing in the doorway. He walked into the room and looked over the girl and into the hole. His face full of questions but none reached his lips.

"I can explain," Aélita said, guessing what it might look like. Quickly she told him of the vision and dream, both pointing to the secret hole, "but I never knew what was hidden there," Aélita finished with, looking at the box in her hands. She brushed off the thickest layer of dust and dirt to make out an eighties rendition of Mickey Mouse and Pluto.

Jérémie rested a hand on his desk to lean over Aélita. "Is that the only thing in there?"

Aélita looked down into the hole, not seeing anything more than insulation below the spider's workings. "I think so."

"Close it up."

Aélita did just that, thinking Jérémie might want to keep this cubie a secret from his family. Who knew what George would put in here, though it looked to have enough spiders. She dusted her hands off before grabbing the lunch box and standing up. She turned around, seeing he had stepped back for her to leave the small space.

"Uh, I'll take that so you can get dressed," Jérémie said. "They're about to start the broadcast down stairs."

Aélita handed him the old metal box and turned back to her cot to pull out her cloths. "I didn't mean to sleep so late," she admitted, fishing for her clean cloths.

"Alexa said it seemed like you had a rough night so we let you sleep in," Jérémie explained.

Aélita smiled, "That was sweet of her, and you."

Cheers erupted from down stairs as Aélita stood up, her bundle of cloths in her arms. She glanced down at the floor boards before looking back at the box in Jérémie's hands. "I guess we'll have to wait till after the… lancer du gâteau aux fruits?" Aélita was unsure if she remembered it correctly, wondering why exactly someone would waste good fruitcake and why it was an event.

"It's as weird as it sounds," Jérémie gave her a smile.

Aélita quickly ran into the bathroom to get changed and threw her nightgown in her suitcase before turning to Jérémie who still stood with the lunch box in his hands. He had cleared off most of the dust and spider webs, showing the paint had chipped in places.

"I'll put this in my desk drawer till we can open it," Jérémie offered, glancing at her over his glasses for a moment. Aélita nodded her head, feeling like he was waiting for her okay before doing what he said. Closing the drawer, he stood up and asked, "You wanna go watch the lancer du gâteau aux fruits?"

"What is it?" Aélita asked, walking with Jérémie out of his room. "Why would anyone toss a fruitcake?"

"It's an American thing, I think their fruitcakes aren't any good," Jérémie offered with a shrug as they turned down the steps. "A'nt Jane's family's American."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Aélita said, only knowing about Americans through what she had learned while on Lyoko. "What part?"

"I guess somewhere in Colorado, since that's where Uncle Wesley lives," Jérémie offered.

They turned into the living room to see a laptop connected to the large TV. A'nt Jane and her husband, Uncle Luc, sat on the floor directly below the TV, watching the smaller laptop with their backs against the coffee table. George was sitting on the coffee table, Alexa sitting just to the side so she could see at the feet of Jay, sitting in the recliner with a beer in his hand. The adjacent sofa sat Béa, Michel, Adrien, and Marinette, all squished together with Patrick sitting on the armrest next to his mom. Aunt Jane and Uncle Robert sat in the last seat, it being a love sofa, in front of the large front window.

Aélita went and sat on the floor beside Uncle Luc, leaving Jérémie to take the offered armrest from Uncle Robert. Aélita leaned forward to ask the blonde haired man, "What is this?"

Uncle Luc turned to the girl and explained while two American's appeared on the screen, explaining in English. "There are five events to the fruitcake toss, hand tossing distance, accuracy: like with targets, speed, best balance, and the one where you can use machines or your creativity to get it flying," Luc offered. "Jane's brother, Wesley, has competed for the last ten years or so, making it tradition to watch it on Christmas after we married."

"So what does he compete in?" Aélita asked as on screen the people were holding up what looked to be a moldy brick.

"Mostly the first, hand tossing, since he played baseball professionally for a few years," Jane offered, the TV showing the English names of the five events now, "though he does dabble in the robotics category. If he wins, he said he'll take the trip out here for Christmas."

"Oh, they're showing the contestants!" Béa exclaimed, getting Aélita to look up at the TV.

People quickly had the camera panned over them, some waving while others stretched their arms.

"There he is!" Luc said, trying to point the man out to Aélita.

"Aller, Wes!" A'nt Jane exclaimed.

"Yes, aller Uncle Wes!" Alexa echoed, putting her hands up while George looked at her, shaking his head.

Aélita looked up at the TV, pulling her knees closer to her as she watched the recorded broadcast. She knew enough of the language to catch a word every now and then but not enough to know what they were saying. The first event started, and she watched person after person throw the brick they called a fruitcake. She didn't care enough to run the math after each person's throw to understand how far they had thrown it, realizing while they were watching the states didn't use the measuring system she was accustom to.

"Do they not like fruitcake?" Alexa asked.

"No, their fruitcake isn't good," A'nt Jane offered, turning to look at the girl. "It's blech."

"Blech," Alexa copied, sticking out her tongue.

A'nt Jane smiled, nodding her head. "But your Mommy's fruitcake is yum."

Alexa turned to her mom sitting in front of the window and asked, "Are you going to make it tonight?"

Aunt Jane nodded her head. "As soon as Grandmére gets back from shopping."

 _Oh, that's where she is_ , Aélita thought, just realizing the older woman was missing. Her eyes turned to movement just passed the stairs to see Manchot mostly hidden with her ears and eyes just poking out around the wall. Aélita held out her hand, willing the shy cat to venture out when everyone was in one room. The black cat gave her a look before turning around and climbing back up the stairs.

"There he is!" Michel exclaimed, getting Aélita to look back at the screen. It showed a man in his thirties with the beginnings of a beard and mustache.

The man tipped his ball cap as the reported said something, giving Wesley the mike. Wesley said a bit in English before saying, "Hey Jane and the Belpois'. If I win, I'll be seeing you." He changed back to English, it looked like he was explaining what he had said, Aélita picking out the word Noël in his English.

"He didn't mess it up!" A'nt Jane exclaimed.

"Did you help him with that?" Aunt Jane asked.

"He put it all together on his own. He's been learning French since the wedding," A'nt Jane explained. "I think he hated not being able to properly talk to you."

"That does sound like Wesley," Marinette commented, referring to something only Aélita didn't know.

They quieted down as Aélita returned her attention to the TV, watching as the man threw the fruitcake brick. She guessed the prize was money, it being how he could take a last minute plane trip to France for Christmas. They measured up how far away the brick had landed, putting Wesley at the top of contestants and gaining some cheers out of those watching.

Aélita's phone let out a buzz, getting her to drop her legs out in front of her so she could pull the phone out of her pocket. The short message made her stomach drop.

 **SOS XANA sorry**

Aélita glanced over her shoulder to see Jérémie staring at his phone. Quietly, she put her phone back in her pocket and got up. She walked around the steps into the family room just as outside pulled up Grandmére in an old American sports car she didn't recognize. Jérémie walked into the room, getting Aélita to ask, "Bus or train?"

Jérémie looked out the window to see his grandmother getting out of the car. "Uh, I might have a faster way, though it would mean telling her the truth."

"Okay," Aélita nodded her head quickly. Without giving him a chance to second guess the idea, she reached for the door and rushed outside.

Jérémie rushed right on her heals and shut the door behind himself. "Grandmére!" Jérémie called out as the woman popped the trunk.

"Shoo, you two!" Grandmére ordered, flicking her hands at them as if to detour flies.

"We need your help," Jérémie said, the two stopping next to the driver door. "Can you fly us back to Sceaux?"

Grandmére looked at the two, confused only for a moment, before she slammed shut the trunk lid.

AN: Hey, the lunchbox has finally made an appearance! That thing appeared page 4 in the original, though we still haven't seen inside it here. Wesley is from the original as well, though sadly I missed the opportunity to have a Xana attack while they were on vacation. Wasn't missing it this time around.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 **ETA 1 hour**

Aélita had sent that text when they had first taken off in Grandmére's private jet. The flight had given the two enough time to tell her what had really happened and why they were in such a hurry to get back to Kadic. Now Aélita and Jérémie sat in their plush, overstuffed chairs, facing Grandmére as she took in the information they had just told her.

Aélita didn't know what the Xana attack was, how Yumi was faring, or even how the town was doing. All she knew for certain was that they would be touching down any minute now.

"A virtual world that you can actually go to," Grandmére said more to herself. She looked at Aélita and asked, "And your father, Franz Hopper was it, built it? Is actually stuck inside it?"

Aélita nodded her head.

"I feel like I should know that name," Grandmére mumbled. She looked at Jérémie and asked, "And you say he created a time reversal program?"

"It works off both Tesla and Einstein's work on time travel," Jérémie offered. "Though it only ever sends us back in time that have gone through Lyoko. No one else notices the effect."

"Then I'm not going to remember any of this once you're done, am I?" Grandmére asked, sounding clearly disappointed.

"We've been thinking about telling you," Aélita admitted, exchanging a glance with Jérémie.

"Mrs. Belpois, were about to land," the pilot's voice announced over the speakers.

Aélita noticed the two reach for their seat belts, getting her to do the same. She didn't remember flying before and wasn't sure what to expect on landing.

"So who of your friends will be meeting us?" Grandmére asked as Aélita could feel the slight change in the plane.

"Yumi for certain, Ulrich might be there if he could escape his parents," Jérémie admitted.

"What about Odd, where's he?" Grandmére asked, clearly knowing Jérémie's friends.

"New Zealand, with family," Aélita offered.

Grandmére looked at her a moment as the sound of the plane's wheels touched down. As the plane slowed to a stop, turning out of the runway, she unbuckled and asked, "Any idea what the Xana attack is?"

Aélita glanced out the window, her hands frozen on her seat belt as the runway filled with green pines and blue firs. "Trees," she stated, simply.

"Trees?" Jérémie asked as he and Grandmére got up out of their seats to look out Aélita's window. Trees were working their way across the tarmac, wobbling to and fro as they shifted on their roots. A purple spark of electricity connected them all through their nettles. "He sent trees after us?"

"Uh, ma'am?"

Aélita turned to see the pilot walking through the door separating him from the cabin, his face confused.

"I don't' know what's going on out there, but maybe it's for the best if you stay here," the young man offered.

"Sorry Vincent, not happening," Grandmére said, pushing herself away from Aélita's window. She stepped over to where emergency equipment was kept and unstrapped an ax, holding it in both hands at the ready. She looked over at Aélita and said, "Send Yumi a message, we're on our way."

-.-.-.-

"This was an old car factory? And they put a supercomputer underneath it?" Grandmére asked now that the three could catch their breath in the elevator. It had been a strange fight getting both to the car waiting for them at the private air strip and through the city. Never before had Aélita had to fight trees. Her hands felt like she might have a few splinters from the ordeal.

"The government bought it in the early nineties," Aélita offered, indeed finding a splinter in her thumb knuckle. She picked at it a moment before giving up, afraid she might shove it farther in. The elevator stopped and she punched in the code to retract the iron curtain.

"I hope you tell me all this again once we're back to the proper timeline," Grandmére said as the curtain rolled up and the door unlocked to show Yumi sitting at the computer while Ulrich climbed down the ladder from above.

Ulrich dropped to his feet, shedding a few branches and nettles as he did so, and turned to see the three in the elevator. "Good, I don't know how much longer I can hold them off," Ulrich admitted, wiping his hands together to brush off more nettles. "How'd you get here so quickly?"

"My Grandmére," Jérémie admitted, walking over to Yumi with the woman following slowly behind.

Aélita smiled at the woman's awed state, Grandmére looking up at where the wires came down from the ceiling.

Yumi jumped out of the computer chair and said, "Activated tower's in Lyoko, mountain sector. William's waiting for us."

Jérémie took his seat, grabbing the mike to place on his ear as he said, "Might as well go and say hey." He looked over at Ulrich as the teen passed him and asked, "Any idea on how the clone's doing?"

"He video messaged me like we told him to," Ulrich said, turning to walk backwards into the elevator. "His dad just thinks he's going through a teen faze."

"I guess that works," Jérémie said, his face glued to the screen as his fingers worked away on the keyboard.

Aélita pushed the button to get the elevator working, closing the door.

"How did his grandma get you two here so quickly?" Yumi asked as the elevator started running.

"She's actually my sponsor, and an inventor," Aélita offered. "Her private jet got us here."

"Your sponsor?" Ulrich asked.

"She's how Jérémie's been able to pay for me going to Kadic," Aélita explained. "We're thinking about telling her the truth when she can remember."

"What?!" Yumi exclaimed as the elevator came to a stop.

"Maybe all of us should talk to her," Ulrich said as Aélita reached over to open the door. "Odd included."

Aélita walked out and towards the middle scanner as she admitted, "She already figured out I'm not related to Odd."

"When was this?" Yumi asked.

"Probably before I met her," Aélita shrugged. "She is a Belpois."

"Jérémie had to get his smarts from somewhere," Ulrich said, copying Aélita's shrug as he walked into the scanner on Aélita's right as Yumi took the last scanner.

"I'm ready to start the transfer process," Jérémie's voice said, coming from the speakers in the ceiling.

"Ready Jérémie," Ulrich said as the scanner doors started to close.

Aélita closed her eyes as the scanner's decontamination sequence blew upwards at her. Her mind went through the process the supercomputer and Jérémie would go through to send each of them to her father's world. It would break down her molecules and save them as virtual data, in her digital envelop, and reconstruct her as the digital avatar in her file. She kind of missed her old look, but appreciated what Jérémie went through when he upgraded their looks.

She felt her body be recreated, giving her enough conscious thought to prepare for landing in the purple expanse of the mountain sector. Aélita stood up, expecting to already see William as her friends took in the world around them.

"Activated tower's north northwest, William's on his way," Jérémie warned.

Aélita looked in the direction, the supercomputer aiding her mental compass as it always did to help her find the correct direction.

"What's coming with him?" Ulrich asked, looking up at the cloudy sky.

"His mantas, but there's three frelions coming up behind you," Jérémie said as the three vehicles materialized in front of them. "Ulrich?" Jérémie's voice wavered as Aélita stepped on the Overboard. "Is that fire ax still in the boiler room?"

The three started flying northward as the sound of beating wings raced behind them. Aélita looked behind just in time to call out "Energy field!" throwing her hand up to shoot a ball of pink energy out of her hand.

"I think so, but I don't know if you can get there," Ulrich said, pulling out a sword to deflect a laser just as Aélita's blasted frelion exploded. "The trees were in the old assembly room."

A moment passed with no response before Yumi called out, "Jérémie?"

The laser missed its shooter, the frelion dodging nimbly in the air.

"I guess the trees got to the lab," Aélita said as she focused on her flying, balancing easily on the barrowed board. She heard a laser blast come from behind her right side and quickly shifted so the board would fly closer to Yumi only to have the blast hit her leg.

"Aélita!" Yumi exclaimed as Aélita dropped down to a knee.

Aélita heard Yumi's tessen fly over her head as she managed to keep herself flying alongside the girl. An explosion of pixels sounded behind her as the strange electricity released her leg, letting her stand straight. "Oh no," Aélita mumbled, seeing what awaited them before the tower. It was the labyrinth.

"What's the problem? We just fly over it," Ulrich said, changing gears on his Overbike to get it flying.

"I wouldn't," Aélita started, something telling her it wouldn't work but she couldn't see why not.

Yumi and Aélita slowed to a stop, Aélita hearing the last frelion before she saw it come up from behind her right side. She quickly fired off a blast of energy, killing it before it had a chance to fire. She turned her attention back to Ulrich, who had reached the top of the rock mass, only for his whole body to be covered in the electricity that signified the loss of life points and his bike to be destroyed out from under him.

"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaimed, reacting faster than Aélita could. She flew her Overwing over and grasped Ulrich's body before he could hit the ground and risk losing more life points.

"Thanks, Yumi," Ulrich said as Yumi stopped and dropped him off at the beginning of the labyrinth.

Aélita stepped off her Overboard and walked over to them, looking at the foreboding mass. "Did you get to see much before you got hit?"

"No. How'd you know I'd get…" Ulrich looked for the right word as Yumi stepped off the Overwing, "electrocuted?"

"Xana wouldn't make it so easy," Aélita pointed out. "Last time he used this tower, we didn't have vehicles so he would've put in some preventative."

"I think that's a pretty good preventative. William!" Yumi exclaimed, pointing to his super smoke as the dark cloud floated through the ground just inside the labyrinth.

Aélita quickly ignited her hands as Ulrich and Yumi pulled out their weapons, taking stance in front of her.

"Yumi, do your best and get Aélita through that maze," Ulrich ordered as William appeared out of the ground. His two mantas flew up from just below the ground on each side, flanking him.

Aélita looked over at Yumi, making sure she was ready.

Ulrich let out a battle cry, jumping forward to catch William's blade in between his.

"Go!" Yumi ordered.

Aélita kept an eye on the manta flying at her side as she ran to the labyrinth's entrance. The monster's nose started collecting energy, warning her it was reading to fire. "Energy field!" Aélita exclaimed, throwing a ball of pink energy up at the manta. She saw it make contact but not in the Eye of Xana. Instead of dealing with it, thinking the force field over the labyrinth would keep them away, she kept running for the entrance. She made it just before Yumi, stopping and turning around to watch the girl catch her iron war fan and keep an eye on the two monsters.

The mantas followed them, Aélita's blasting off another shot only to miss as Aélita quickly jumped back.

"You think they can follow?" Yumi asked, her fans both opened in her hands at the ready.

"Maybe not, look," Aélita said as the two monsters stopped just at the entrance. Yumi's manta shot at them, getting them to back step farther into the maze. Worry wormed its way into her mind, reminding her of those left on Earth, unresponsive. "Let's go," Aélita ordered, turning around to take in the maze.

Aélita heard Yumi's footsteps following her, getting her to look over her shoulder at the two mantas. To her, they looked like guards making sure their prisoners disappeared in a maze, never to be seen again.

"Do you remember any of this from the last time?" Yumi asked.

"No, not really," Aélita said, realizing that was about two years ago. "We wandered for a bit before Odd had a Future Flash that led the way."

They stopped at the end of the entry way, seeing they could go either left or right. Yumi flicked a fan away, leaving the one in her right hand opened and ready. "Let's go left," Yumi said, slicing her fan into the digital rock face to their left in a straight line. "Maybe this will help us."

Aélita nodded her head, letting out a sound to mean her understanding, before the two ran off to the left. All the while Yumi was slicing numbers into turns, crossing out those that had turned out to be dead ends, Aélita's mind raced back to the real world. She was sure Grandmére could take care of herself, she seemed to be a very capable woman, especially for her age. Jérémie was who she was worried about. As far as she knew, he had never been all that good in anything physical. He had brains, that's what attracted her to him, not brawn. How he was surviving against Xana's horde of Christmas trees, she wasn't sure.

"Aélita!" Yumi exclaimed, pointed upwards. "Look!"

Aélita's gaze followed Yumi's hand and saw the top of the activated tower peeking over the walls of rock. "I hope it really is that close," Aélita said, refusing to get her hopes up too high as she continued along the semi-circle pathway to where it branched off in another three directions. She placed her hands on her hips, debating which way to go. She opened her mouth to ask Yumi only to hear footsteps behind her. The two turned around to look, fearing William. Aélita quickly created a ball of energy in both hands as Yumi pulled out her second fan only to see Ulrich running after them.

"Don't shoot!" Ulrich called out, slowing down to a stop.

"What happened to William?" Yumi asked, retracting a fan again as Aélita dispersed the energy from her hands.

"I guess he got a little too close to losing all his life points," Ulrich said with a shrug. "I got a hit in and he retreated into the digital void."

"Weird," Aélita said.

"He could just be regrouping up ahead," Yumi pointed out. She turned back to the three directions in front of them, getting Aélita to turn as well. "Which way you think we should go?"

"You two seem to be doing fine," Ulrich said, holding up his hands in defense. "I've never been good with mazes anyway."

"You start from the end, don't you?" Yumi asked as she sliced in a 24 into the rock wall to their right.

"It got me the correct path," Ulrich said, giving her a smile as the three walked down the right path to find it curving around the activated tower.

Aélita looked up at the sky as they walked in silence. "I wish I knew what was going on out there," she said only to realize she had said it aloud.

"You and me both, Princess," Ulrich admitted.

AN: I love Grandmére's character, I'm so glad I fixed her from being just a onetime seen character to an important one.

Also, a problem I have while watching the French version of Code Lyoko. Aélita calls out "Champe Force!" when she throws her energy balls. I had to actually look it up, because it's been years since I saw season three or four in English. I know the last time I saw it in English, it was a recording from Cartoon Network, so that will say how long ago that was. Wish I still had that recording DVD.

ODD: You recorded the show, onto DVD? Why not DVR?

AN: Didn't have that back then. And sadly I never got to see most of season 4 when it was broadcasted. Or what of it had gotten broadcasted over here in the states, stupid Cartoon Network. We moved out of the apartment back in '07. I still remember handing a tape to one of my friends to get her to record an episode. I'm still mad that she taped over a Scooby-Doo movie that time, but it was worth it to watch the last new episode of Code Lyoko and Danny Phantom I would see for a while.

ODD: I was recorded to tape? Now who's dating themselves?

AN: A few episodes of Code Lyoko, season 1, got released on tape. Now we get to the real dates here.

ODD: Ooo, I got a tape release?

AN: and onto Google… there goes my computer.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Yumi carved in a 39 as the three rounded another rock corner. Aélita looked up to see the tower no closer, the red glow taunting her.

Not for the first time Aélita thought about bringing out her wings and flying through the force field, but the risk of it wiping out all her life points in the attempt prevented her from doing so.

"Wouldn't it be easier if we split up?" Ulrich asked.

"Not if you find it and can't find us," Yumi pointed out as they came to yet another dead end.

"No!" Aélita exclaimed, going to the end of the wall to pound her fist into its hard exterior.

"Aélita?" Ulrich asked, surprised clear in his voice.

"We don't have time for this," Aélita stated, letting her mind reach out to touch the data that made up the world around them. She pushed herself away from the wall and cupped her hands, letting out a familiar note from her lungs. She lowered herself to her knees, careful not to effect the data creating the floor, as she took out the walls between herself and the activated tower. She opened her eyes as she looked up to see a pathway to the tower, though she could feel the life points she used up dwindle herself dangerously low. Ever since the upgrade Jérémie did when they recreated Lyoko, her creation took more out of her. It took her a moment before she could get back up to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Yumi asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Aélita nodded her head slightly, giving Yumi a half smile. "Come on, Jérémie needs us," she said before leading the charge to the tower. She kept her eyes open for those manta or William as they left the labyrinth. She could make out the proper exit of the maze where the two mantas floated, waiting.

"Figures that's where they went," Ulrich said, pulling out both his swords.

"We'll cover you, get to the tower," Yumi said, flicking out her second fan to be ready.

Aélita nodded her head, pushing the worry for Jérémie down. She was almost at the tower.

The three rushed forward as Ulrich gave a call of, "Hey! Fish face!"

The two mantas turned to look at the three running to the front of the tower. Not for the first time, Aélita wished the platform would rotate to wherever she entered it. She stayed back as her friends rushed forward to distract the two monsters. As soon as they got the mantas looking away from the tower, Aélita took her break. She rushed around the tower to where she knew there would be the proper entrance only to jump back as William's smoke appeared in front of her and the entry way. William appeared out of the smoke, a smile on his face as he held his sword aloft.

Quickly Aélita brushed her hand over her bracelet, activating her wings and flying upwards. "Energy field!" Aélita exclaimed, shooting down two balls of pink energy.

William quickly sliced his sword at the projectiles, dispersing them before they had the chance to hit him.

Instead of planning a way to kill him, Aélita looked for a way around him. She shot down another three balls of energy to take his attention. She never saw his reaction to them, instead she tucked her wings in close and dived down at him. She rounded him, extending her wings to catch the air and slow down, aiming for the entry way, only to feel a strange explosion of electricity in her right shoulder.

William had sliced his sword through her wing.

The realization hit her as Lyoko's gravity took hold. Aélita fell through the entrance and soared over the short walkway. She managed to grab hold of the circular platform as her chest made impact. She cringed, her life points going even farther lower with the landing. She was normally thankful for how lenient Lyoko was with fall damage. _At least towers still restored life points_ , Aélita thought as she pulled herself up onto the platform.

By the time she got to her feet, the lights on the floor had lit, sounding off their chine as they did so. Aélita walked to the center and looked up just as the feeling of weightlessness overcame her. Normally the feeling made her feel better, getting her to be playful and flip in the short time it took to go to the top of the tower. Today though she wasn't feeling it, she just wanted to reach the top. The normally short ride was taking far too long today.

She felt the tug of gravity once more as she passed the platform. She stepped onto the second platform, letting gravity fully take over her body once more and stepped forward as the panel appeared. Placing her hand on the panel, it quickly read who she was. She dropped her hand as she felt the familiar connection to the code within the tower. Her name appeared on the screen before disappearing, giving room for the deactivational code: LYOKO.

Aélita looked around at the lines of code in the wall, waiting for the code to be flushed out. "Tower deactivated," Aélita said, hoping Jérémie would hear her normal words and respond as the code disappeared from sight.

With no reply from Jérémie, Aélita turned back to the floating panel and put in the necessary information to turn back time. "Return to the past, now," Aélita ordered, pushing the last code through to start the process. She closed her eyes, praying Jérémie was alright.

AN: Short chapter this time, don't worry, I've got more really long ones coming up. I seem to have a hard time putting breaks in the story. I still can't believe the original version of this story didn't have a Xana attack. But I also had no idea of how to get them back to Kadic at the time.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Aélita looked up at the TV, pulling her knees closer to herself as she watched two American announcers talk about the fruitcake toss. The strange, yet familiar conflict of memories played in her mind as she recognized where the time line had originally branched off. She realized that, for being a fourteen year old, she and Jérémie understood quantum physics very well.

"Do they not like fruitcake?" Alexa asked, getting Aélita's mind back to the present.

Aélita glanced behind her to look over at Jérémie. He noticed her movement and looked down at her. Aélita gave him a soft smile before turning back to watch the video.

The half an hour event drug slowly for Aélita, not really curious about the other participants, but she knew this was something Jérémie's family did as tradition. It ended with Wesley getting second place over all.

"Peut-être l'année suivante, frère," A'nt Jane mumbled as she ended the recording.

Aélita got up to her feet, brushing out the edge of her dress to make sure it was flat, as she remembered that morning. It felt so long ago.

"Come on, let's video call the others," Jérémie said, his phone gripped in his hand as he stopped next to the girl.

It took a moment for Aélita's mind to catch up to what Jérémie meant. "Oh, to talk about Grandmére?" she asked to make sure.

Jérémie nodded his head before leading the way up to his room. Aélita followed up the steps, already anticipating Yumi to be the hard one to convince.

Jérémie opened the door to his room and the two walked in, Aélita shutting the door behind herself.

Jérémie pulled out his desk chair, moving it over to the side as he opened his laptop. Aélita leaned against Patrick's bed as she watched Jérémie set up the four camera video call. The webcam came to life, showing Jérémie's face and half of Aélita's. As he sent a text to their friends, Aélita shifted over so she could be seen. Lyoko had spoiled her on this front, projecting her face to Jérémie without the need to make sure she was in frame.

Jérémie sat his phone to the side as a pop up window announced someone's arrival. Jérémie clicked accept and Odd's face appeared, lit by only the screen in front of him as he repositioned an old pair of headphones that cut through the purple in his hair.

"Odd, are you in the bathroom?" Aélita asked, squinting at what looked to be toiletries sitting in the tub he was leaning against.

"It's almost one in the morning," Odd pointed out, his voice hushed. He smiled as he added, "Père Noël just finished up down here."

Two more windows popped up in quick succession, Jérémie accepting Yumi and Ulrich into the virtual chat room.

Once everyone was visible, Odd asked, "What's this about telling your mémé, Jérémie?"

"I guess you should start at the beginning," Aélita offered.

Jérémie took a breath before starting. "When we managed to bring Aélita back to Earth, I reached out to my Grandmére. She's the one who realized you could control rockets with radio waves and made it work for the government, so she's…" Jérémie paused for the right word. "For lack of a better term, she's rich. I told her a similar story to that which we told the school, that Aélita was Odd's cousin, but lacked the proper funds to go to Kadic. Grandmére asked for an assessment and soon agreed to pay for Aélita's schooling. We found out Monday that she knows Odd's family, at least well enough to put together that any relative of the Della Robbia's wouldn't need financial aid. So she already knows we've lied to her."

"I want to tell her," Aélita said, putting in her two cents.

"I agree," Ulrich nodded his head. "She's Jérémie's grandma, she's bound to figure something out before break's over, hanging around you two."

"She's not going to try and stop you, is she?" Yumi asked, holding her plush Totoro as she sat with her phone on her futon.

"That doesn't seem like something she would do," Aélita said, taking a glance over at the back of Jérémie's head.

Yumi sat for a moment, the muscle above her left eyebrow twitching as it did when she was deep in thought. The muscle kept twitching as she nodded her head. "Okay," she said. "If you two trust her, then yes. Tell her."

Aélita found it strange to be waiting on Odd for his answer. The boy was staring at something above the camera, his normally bubbly appearance hardened. "Odd?" Aélita asked, wondering if he had zoned out.

"Jérémie, is your grandma's name Myriam?" Odd asked, looking down at the camera.

Jérémie froze for a second before saying, "Yeah. Do you actually know her?"

Odd nodded his head, a smile on his face. "If your Mémé is Mrs. Myriam, then tell her."

A knock sounded from Odd's camera as a girl's voice said something in English. Without saying a word, Odd disconnected from their sight.

"That sounded like Adele," Ulrich commented. He looked at the camera lens and asked, "Do you think all of us should tell her?"

"Well Odd's got a fourteen hour time difference," Yumi pointed out.

"Maybe one day, but I guess for now Aélita and I will tell her," Jérémie said just as the bedroom door opened.

"Tell who what?" George asked as he walked in. He came over in front of Aélita and looked at the laptop. "Oh, are these your friends? Hi Jérémie's friends!" George smiled, waving at the screen.

Aélita put a hand over her mouth to cover her laughter as Jérémie exclaimed, "George! Didn't you mom say you were going shopping?"

"Esh, I just came in to get my coat," George said, turning to take the steps to his cot. He reached under his bed and pulled out his coat, staring at the two teens for a moment before leaving the room.

"I can't wait till school starts back up," Jérémie mumbled loud enough the mike could pick him up.

"Are you two having fun?" Yumi asked, a smile on her face as Ulrich looked away from the camera for a moment.

"The whole family's gathered at my place for Christmas this year," Jérémie admitted. "My room got labeled as the kid's room."

"How many?"

Aélita watched Ulrich say something to someone off screen, his mike muted.

"Just five of us, but it's tight in here," Jérémie said.

"Oh, we found out this is the old mountain home I had before moving to Sceaux," Aélita said, making sure to avoid the fact that she and Jérémie were sleeping in the same room. If Ulrich could hear, he would certainly tell Odd and who knew what those two would do with information like that.

"Oh really?" Yumi asked, surprised.

"The Christmas I got Mr. Pück was here," Aélita offered.

"Sorry guys, I gotta go," Ulrich said, unmuting himself.

"See you, Ulrich," Aélita offered as Yumi and Jérémie said something similar before Ulrich's window went blank.

"I guess I should get going too," Yumi said, letting out a sigh. "I'm still not used to how you westerners have Christmas and New Year's backwards."

"It is a shame you couldn't go back to Kyoto for New Years," Aélita offered.

"Oh well, good luck with your grandma," Yumi said. "I hope she's as understanding as you think she is." She looked down at the buttons below the screen and ended the call.

Jérémie closed out of the video chat before shutting his laptop. He turned in his chair and looked up at Aélita. "Maybe tell her after dinner?"

"At the fir tree," Aélita nodded her head.

Jérémie turned back to his desk, sliding his laptop out of the way before opening the drawer and pulling out the old lunch box. He sat it on the cleared space and placed his thumb on the latch. Instead of opening it, he pushed it to his side, closer to Aélita, and looked back at the girl. "You wanna open it?"

Aélita swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat as she stood up from Patrick's cot. She placed her thumb on the clasp and quickly flicked it up. Carefully she lifted the lid to reveal a folded up note written on line paper on the top. She picked it out of the box, seeing a locket and something fluffy out of the corner of her eye. She opened the paper to see it written in a version of her handwriting.

"Dear Belpois," Aélita read aloud. "My name is Aélita Rosa Hopper…" her voice failed her, forcing her to clear her throat to continue. "I was born in this house on April 22, 1982…" She looked over the paper at Jérémie and smiled, "I have a birthday."

Jérémie smiled at her, letting her continue reading the page.

Aélita looked back at the page and read, "I am seven years old and have pink hair. In my lunch box I'm putting a picture of me in if you wish to see me." Aélita looked down at the box to see Jérémie pulling out a wallet sized picture of her.

Jérémie turned it over to see, in Franz's handwriting, "Aélita Hopper, age six. Spring picture day May 10, 1988," Jérémie read off. He turned it back over to look at Aélita's younger self.

Aélita looked at the girl in the picture, a front tooth missing in her toothy smile. She ran her tongue across her front teeth, a memory she never knew she missed. She turned her eyes back to the letter and continued reading, "If you are not a Belpois reading this, then you must live here after them. Now I say hi to you.

"The rest of the items in this box is my favorite keychain. The duck's name is Quackers but I guess you can change it." Aélita looked down as Jérémie pulled out a small plush duck on a chain, his white fur now turning brown. Turning her eyes back to the letter, she continued reading. "And last there is a locket. Inside is a picture of my Momma, Anthea Lynn Hopper, and my Daddy, Franz Adam Hopper. Momma had to leave for work, but we're supposed to meet up with her soon. Well, I guess I should close this letter. I hope to meet you in real life but Daddy says that would be unlikely. Signed Aélita Rosa Hopper." Aélita looked over the note again, recognizing some of the swirls in her own handwriting already appearing when she was seven. She sat the letter down on the desk and pulled out a heart shaped locket. She carefully popped it apart with her thumb nail and opened it to see her parents, one of each side. Anthea had her pink hair down, like she always wore it, facing Franz. Franz looked back at Anthea's picture, his glasses covering his eyes as she always remembered it doing so.

Jérémie stood up, his chair squeaking against the floor getting Aélita's attention. She looked up as he took hold of the chain. Quietly, Jérémie took the neckless out of her hand, closing the pictures up. He stepped around her, squished in the small space, and placed the neckless around her neck. She heard the clasp before Jérémie ran a hand through the hair at the base of her neck to make sure he hadn't caught any.

Aélita looked down, putting the chain under the collar of her dress before clasping a hand tightly around the heart. A part of her was jealous, her younger self had had her parents. Both of them. Now she only had her father, and he was lost in Lyoko. How had the virtualization process had worked for her and not him? She closed her eyes as they started to blur.

Jérémie leaned around her and wiped a finger under her eye. "I promise, I'll do everything I can to save Franz Hopper."

AN: Jérémie, don't make promises you can't keep.

JÉRÉMIE: Hey, I did everything I could. I kept that promise.

AÉLITA: And I'm glad you did.

AN: *mumbling with a smile* just wait till I get reworking The End Battle (which might have a new title by the time this gets posted).

JÉRÉMIE: The what?

AN: Nothing! Hey, can you help me find out what the French equivalent to the Police Academy is?


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Will you two tell me where you're dragging me?" Grandmére asked as the three trekked up the hill as snow fell. Three flashlights danced against the snow as dusk came upon them. "We've got to get ready to go to Midnight mass soon, you know."

"We've got a couple more hours before that," Jérémie said, gripping his free gloved hand in a fist as he led the way.

Aélita glanced over her shoulder to see the white haired woman keeping pace up the forest path. "Come on, Grandmére, I know this little ol' hill an't got nothing on you," Aélita encouraged, remembering the woman's battle against the Xanafied trees.

Grandmére gave her a glance, the slang not normal coming from Aélita. Aélita gave her a shrug, smiling at the woman.

"You did tell Jérémie what we talked about, didn't you?" Grandmére asked.

"Yes, that's why we're coming up here," Jérémie admitted, swinging his flashlight to and thro before shining it on the tree ahead of them. He stopped next to the tree and took a deep breath. "I hate that hill."

"You think with all the running we do," Aélita said only to remember his body wouldn't advantage from something happening in a differed timeline. She stopped next to Jérémie and turned around to face Grandmére.

"Okay, what's with the tree?" Grandmére asked, flashing her light up at it.

Aélita pushed her shoulders back to stand straight. "Grandmére, my name is Aélita Rosa Hopper. I was born in his house on April 22, 1982." She smiled, glad she finally had a date of birth.

Grandmére's mouth moved, as if she wanted to interrupt, only to close it.

Aélita felt like she was repeating herself now, saying a similar version of what she and Jérémie had told the woman on the plane. "My memory's not all there yet but my father was commissioned by the government to create a program that would replace human surveillance called Xanadu Artificial Neotype of Analysis, or XANA for short. He built Xana a world to learn in and created a way for people to go to that world. In September of '94, Daddy and I got stuck in that world, the government locking us inside to be forgotten. Lyoko, the world built for Xana, started dumping memory, leaving me memoryless."

"I found her October 9th, 2004," Jérémie said, picking up the story. "She had no memory at the time and we all assumed she was an AI. It took a little over a year to learn how she could be brought to Earth, the digital envelop her molecular data had been stored in for the past ten years had been damaged to the point that if she had been devirtualized like anyone else, it would've killed her. When I had asked you to help fund her, we still thought she was an AI, so I gave you the same story we gave Mr. Delmas and the school board."

"It wasn't until last summer we even learned the truth," Aélita admitted, running her mitted hand through the nettles of the fir tree. She looked over at Grandmére and said, "My father is still stuck in Lyoko."

"His digital envelop was damaged to the point that even on Lyoko he doesn't have a form," Jérémie offered. "Sometimes he can construct himself as a ball of energy, but that's the best he's been able to get."

Aélita looked at the woman as she digested all the new information she was being given, worry building up in her for a reason she wasn't sure of.

Grandmére looked over at the tree before looking back at them. "What's with the tree then?"

"It was my Christmas tree," Aélita admitted, taking a look at the tree. "Proof that my memories are slowly returning."

The woman nodded her head before squinting her eyes in thought. "Franz Hopper, why does that name sound so familiar?" Grandmére asked more to herself.

Expecting the question, Aélita reached into her scarf and pulled out the locket, carefully unclipping it from around her neck. She opened it up, looking at the pictures inside as she said, "Here's a picture of him. Sadly we just found out my mother passed away."

Grandmére took the offered locket and looked at the pictures inside, silent for a moment. "Right!" Grandmére exclaimed, a smile on her face. "He got the job replacing Richard the year I left Kadic."

"You taught at Kadic?" Aélita asked.

"How else do you think I convinced Michel and Béa to send Jérémie there?" Grandmére said, looking at the girl as she handed back the locket. "I taught there from '79 to '88, year nine history."

"Did you ever see my mother?" Aélita asked, looking at the locket as she remembered the government report of her being a test subject.

Grandmére shook her head. "No, I never saw any of his family. Just him when he came to apply for a teaching job. I was still on the hiring board though that was also the spring I was ready to quit. I do remember his application being strange. He had never taught anywhere before but had a background that convinced Raphaël, the head master before Jean-Pierre took it over, to hire him on the spot for the '88-'89 school year."

"What do you remember of him?" Aélita asked, craving more about her father. She closed her mittened hands around the locket, protecting their faces from the snow.

"Mostly that he was easy to talk to. I remember one of the teachers commenting that he would be the oldest one, besides Raphaël, which was strange for Kadic at the time. They were trying to be different by having a mostly younger staff. I think they forgot I was about the same age as he," Grandmére said, a sly smile on her face. Her smile faded as she continued, "But sadly, I didn't talk to him that much. What I did get to talk to him about was mostly him wanting to know about the area. I took that as he had just moved to town."

"We found out they moved to Sceaux in '88," Jérémie added.

"Do you know what happened to your mother?" Grandmére asked, looking softly at Aélita.

Aélita looked at Jérémie, hoping he would explain.

"She died of cardio arrest in August, '92," Jérémie said. "Or so the death certificate said. Right before, she signed a release to be used as a test subject for Franz Hopper's virtualization process."

"Why would he risk his wife?" Grandmére asked.

"That didn't make since to us, either," Jérémie admitted. "I want to ask him, but he hasn't been able to response to my contacting him."

"So he is cognitive?" Grandmére checked.

Jérémie nodded his head. "He's tried to help us a few times, though we've only been able to talk once. I believe it's hard for him to do so with how his mental consciousness is scattered."

"I think the government forced her to be the guinea pig," Aélita said, voicing the thought that had been in her head since she read the reports. She put the locket back around her neck, tucking it under her scarf and added, "I don't know if it was a memory Xana made or not, but right before break I saw my mother being taken away by government agents here, at the mountain home. I don't remember her at all in the Hermitage, the house in Sceaux."

"We also found a letter Aélita wrote right before they moved from this house, saying she believed her mom had already left for a new job. But there's no record of her for those six years," Jérémie offered. "With Franz, there's at least a job history. Anthea's job history ends in '88."

Aélita took a look at Jérémie, surprised he didn't show her those.

"Sorry, it wasn't easy to save like the documents were," Jérémie admitted. "I'll pull it back up when you can read through it."

"Okay."

"You're going to have to show me Lyoko and all its hardware," Grandmére said, shoving her hands in her coat pockets.

"When you can remember it this time," Jérémie said, a smile on his face.

Grandmére gave him a face that got a giggle out of Aélita. "What do you mean by that?"

Aélita and Jérémie told the woman what had happened earlier that day in another time line, Grandmére taking it all in.

"So only those who've gone to Lyoko are taken back in time?" Grandmére asked, looking at her grandson. "I can't see you fighting on Lyoko though."

"I've only truly been once," Jérémie admitted. His smile disappeared as he admitted, "Ulrich and Odd put me up against a mega-tank."

"It's true, they should've found you a kankrelat or a bloc," Aélita offered.

"I prefer to be at the keyboard," Jérémie said.

Grandmére gave him a smile.

Jérémie's phone went off, distracting the three as he pulled out his phone. He bit off his glove so he could answer the call, quickly taking the glove in his bare hand as he put the phone to his ear. "Hello."

Grandmére looked at her watch, having to lift up her sleeve to do so, saying low enough as to not distract Jérémie, "It's probably his mom. She likes everyone to get to church at ten: thirty."

"We're coming," Jérémie said before putting his phone back in his pocket. He put his glove back on as he said, "Mom wants us to get ready for church."

Grandmére gave Aélita a look as if to say 'I told you' before saying, "Alright, back down the hill."

Jérémie led the way down, Aélita and Grandmére following close behind until Aélita felt a hand tap her shoulder. She slowed down to walk next to the woman, curious as to what she didn't want Jérémie to hear.

"Thank you," Grandmére said, her voice hushed. "For telling me, that is."

"You deserve to know," Aélita said, just stating what she believed to be true.

"I was proud of him before, I guess all my smarts went along Michel's line, but to know he saved you, has helped save the world," Grandmére's voice left her as a smile pulled at her cheeks. "You know, Jérémie looks at you the same way Michel looks at Béa. And he's been given her the same loving look for the past twenty years."

"And I love that look," Aélita said, remembering the few times she had caught it.

"Then?"

"Maybe after Xana's defeated," Aélita admitted.

"Maybe before," Grandmére offered. Aélita looked at her in surprise. "I hope you all defeat him as soon as possible, but don't keep pushing each other away. I've got no qualms of a lady asking the boy out."

Aélita looked ahead, Jérémie's blonde hair being speckled with the falling snow. Her heart ached for him. How many times had she longed to place her arms around his neck as he worked on the computer, just to watch him work?

AN: Ok, so part of my head cannon for the group is that Jérémie is catholic, since France is last I checked. In my past stories, he convinced Aélita to go with him to mass one Sunday morning and she, as an AI at the time, liked the idea of somewhere to go after death but was confused about being a creation of God when she was a creation of man. I might try to dig that story back up again… But along with that, I had placed Ulrich as being Christian, that being most popular in Germany, Yumi being atheist with Shinto traditions that she didn't really follow, and Odd never staying constant. Sadly I'm not catholic, so I don't go into midnight mass, I was just lucky enough to have a few catholic friends during high school. The only service I even know much about is a catholic funeral, which smells of Christmas. If any of you are curious, your writer here is Christian, part of the nondenominational group. Some days it feels like I go to the church of Paul, with how much they seem to worship him more than God and Jesus, but my church is going under anyway. Old building and, as one of the Elders said, "The average age of the church is dead", it's not going to last much longer. The YMCA across the street has already made an offer, since we have a plot of land that is on a main street and a corner plot at that.

ODD: You're Christian?

AN: I thought you knew that. I mean, shoot, I have a whole folder on DA called Church Art.

ODD: I've seen what you have in Ulrich's flash drive.

AN: We don't talk about everything in that flash drive.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"'Lita, 'Lita! Wake up!"

Aélita moaned as she felt someone pushing against her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself looking over at George, who was climbing out of his bed.

"'Lita, get up!" Alexa pushed again before climbing over the girl. She slipped off Aélita's hips and fell to the floor.

"Alexa!" Aélita called out, worried for the girl. She jumped to her elbow, leaning over the cot to check on the girl only for Alexa to jump to her feet. "You okay?"

"Come on, it's Christmas!" Alexa said, pulling the blankets off the girl.

Aélita quickly pulled down on her nightgown, worried any of the guys had seen her underwear. She stole a glance to the other side of the room to see Patrick sitting in his bed, his eyes still closed, and Jérémie reaching for his glasses.

"Come on, Alexa, let's go find all the presents!" George said, already heading for the door.

"I'm coming!" Alexa called, grabbing Jean-Luc before following her cousin.

"Find the presents?" Aélita asked, confused. Last night they had been all under the tree. She stood up and rubbed the remaining sleep out of her eyes.

"He means to split them up," Jérémie offered, standing up to stretch his arms above his head.

"Family tradition, youngest split the gifts so everyone can start opening them when we're all down there," Patrick said, his eyes still closed as he sat cross legged on his bed.

"That seems like fun," Aélita commented, leaning down to find her cloths for the day.

"I'm just glad we don't have to do it," Patrick admitted.

"George finally took it over two years ago," Jérémie explained. "This is Alexa's first year helping."

Aélita stood up with her cloths in hand to see Patrick getting out of his squeaky bed. "So if there's no more kids for a while?"

"Alexa'll be stuck doing it for a while," Jérémie admitted.

"Oh, don't bother getting changed," Patrick said, just noticing Aélita's cloths bundle. He grabbed the chest of his oversized t-shirt as he added, "Christmas is done in PJs."

Aélita placed her cloths on her bed, it feeling a little intimate to see everyone in their pajamas. She followed the two out of the room and down the stairs to see the family room had changed a bit from when she went to bed around one in the morning.

Alexa and George had only been out of sight for about a minute but they already had every seat in the family room piled with presents. Jay was already in his seat, a beer can in his hand as he sat in the recliner he must have pulled into the room from the living room. He was dressed in an undershirt and sweatpants, his lap already covered in a pile of presents. The piano bench beside him already had two piles that looked to continue onto the floor. On the other side of the tree, five chairs had been pulled away from the table and the love sofa pulled up from against the wall. A kitchen chair had made space in between the love seat and the larger sofa, ending with one last kitchen chair at the edge of the steps.

Patrick took a look at the present's tag sitting in the last chair and said, "I guess this is your seat, Aélita."

Aélita was surprised to see the pile of six presents turn into seven as Alexa placed another package in the seat. "I sat you next to me, 'Lita," Alexa said before turning back to the dwindling pile of presents under the tree.

Aélita smiled at the girl before turning to the two boys checking the tags of presents on the sofa. "I'm gonna get me an orange juice, you want anything?"

"If Mom's got cocoa already made, I'll have that," Jérémie said, squishing a package with his name on it from the seat next to Aélita.

"Patrick?" Aélita asked, the teen already moving the presents from the seat next to Jérémie to the floor.

"Milk's fine for me," Patrick admitted.

Aélita carefully made her way through the line of chairs and presents piled on the floor through the dining room, making her way to the kitchen. Just inside the doorway stood Béa at the coffee pot, pouring herself a cup. She turned at the sound of Aélita's socked footsteps on the ceramic floor as she put the coffee pot back. "Merry Christmas, Aélita."

"Merry Christmas," Aélita offered, going over to the cabinet to pull out two glasses and a mug. "Have you had a chance to make cocoa yet?"

"In the teapot," Béa said, grabbing the creamer to pour into her coffee. "Did you get a chance to finish it?"

Aélita guessed she was referring to Jérémie and Alexa's presents and smiled as she poured Jérémie's drink. "Finished and wrapped. After everyone opens presents, I'll give you back what I didn't need." She sat the teapot back on the back burner and turned to Béa. "Thank you for helping me."

"No problem," Béa said before taking a sip of her coffee. As Aélita went to the fridge to pull out the milk and orange juice she asked, "Who's getting what drink? I'm guessing the cocoa's for Jérémie?"

"Yeah, and Patrick wanted milk," Aélita said, pouring his glass now. She finished pouring and looked at the woman. "Has Jérémie always had cocoa in the morning?"

"Most mornings," Béa nodded her head. She leaned against the counter as Aélita poured her orange juice, adding, "He joked as a kid, thinking it was what got his brain going. Now it might be true." She let out a laugh to show she was joking.

"I'd believe it," Aélita said, laughter in her voice as she remembered days when both Rosa hadn't made cocoa and the drink machine was on the fritz. He would power through but she could tell he was never fully away until at least lunch on those days. Aélita put the milk and juice back in the fridge and turned back to the three drinks.

"I'll grab Patrick's," Béa offered, grabbing the glass.

"Thanks," Aélita said, grabbing her glass and Jérémie's mug. The two left the kitchen, wishing Jane and Luc a Merry Christmas as they passed in the doorway, and walked back into the family room to see Michel and Grandmére sitting in their seats. Grandmére sitting in the chair by the tree and Michel in the chair squished between the sofa and love seat. Alexa and George now sat on the piano bench, both looking ready to pounce on their presents.

"Here you go," Aélita offered, holding out the mug to Jérémie.

Jérémie took the mug in both hands, smiling up at her. "Thanks."

Aélita smiled back, taking in his blue eyes for as long as she felt was accepted. She cleared the presents from her seat before sitting down, sipping at her orange juice. Curiosity got at her, getting her to lean down and look at the tags of who the presents were from. One was from Alexa, one from Michel and Béa, three of varying shapes from Jérémie, and two from Grandmére.

"'Ey! No peeking," Jay called out, getting Aélita to sit up quick. "A'nt your turn."

"That's his last for the day, right?" Patrick asked, looking over towards Jérémie and Aeilta as he covered his mouth from Jay's sight.

Aélita kept to her orange juice, worried of being accused of peeking through her presents again.

"Don't listen to Jay," Jérémie offered, sitting his hot cocoa on the arm rest as he looked at her.

"How is he your uncle?" Aélita asked, wondering how the same DNA that created Michel and Adrien also created Jay.

"Grandmére likes to joke that her first two sons got all the brains," Patrick offered, leaning a bit in front of Jérémie so he didn't have to be too loud. "When Jay got born, there wasn't anything left for him."

"A bit harsh," Aélita said, feeling sorry for the man.

"But true," Patrick admitted. He took a sip from his milk as he straightened up before asking, "So how do you usually do Christmas?"

"Well it's just Daddy and me," Aélita offered, not sure what Patrick was getting at. The only Christmas she could remember was when she was about four years old.

"Oh right," Patrick said, his face void for a moment. "Are your grandparents still around?"

"I.. don't know," Aélita admitted, just realizing she hadn't thought about them. "I assume Daddy's have passed. I don't remember anything about Momma's though."

"If we can get your mom's maiden name, maybe we can find out," Jérémie offered.

Two claps got everybody's attention to Grandmére, the woman standing up at her chair. She fixed the strap of her robe before saying, "Merry Christmas, everyone. I know a few people are dying to open their gifts so we'll go in age order." Grandmére sat down before adding, "Alexa, you wanna start us off?"

Alexa dropped down to the floor to pick up a gift off the top of her pile only to stop and look at Aélita. "But 'Lita's our guest," Alexa said, her face showing her confliction.

"Go ahead and open your presents, Alexa," Aélita encouraged.

Alexa let out a yelp of excitement before ripping into the gift in front of her.

Aélita watched in a mix of apprehension and excitement for the girl as her pile of gifts dwindled into a pile of doll cloths, cloths for the girl herself, and various toys. Finally she picked up the small package from Aélita. It was wrapped in a small box and as Alexa opened it, Aélita hope the girl wouldn't be too disappointed.

"Aw, it's a little vest for Jean-Luc!" Alexa exclaimed, holding the small yellow vest by the shoulders. She reached up to the piano bench and pulled Jean-Luc down to the floor with her. She quickly dressed the raccoon and buttoned the one button before showing the now dressed raccoon off. "Thank you, 'Lita!"

"Glad it fit," Aélita said, thankful for Béa's help on measuring the stuffed animal.

Alexa finished opening her presents before George could begin. The first package got a moan, and not just from the boy opening it but from the two beside Aélita.

"It's just underwear," Aélita said, unsure as to the two's reactions.

"No, it just reminds us that one of our gifts is the same," Patrick admitted. "One of Grandmére's staples."

Aélita's cheeks pulled in a smile, seeing Jérémie's cheeks redden as the boy downed the last of his hot cocoa. She turned her eyes back on George and watched him unwrap toys and games, an article of clothing appeared here and there. Aélita felt a little bad about not giving him anything but still felt like she wouldn't know what would've been a good gift.

"Who's next?" A'nt Jane asked, looking over at the three teens now that George was done.

"I'm older then Jérémie," Aélita pointed out.

"When were you born?" Patrick asked.

"April, 1992."

"January, 1991. Okay Jérémie, your turn," Patrick said, leaning forward to watch his cousin open his presents.

Jérémie sat his mug down on the floor at the foot of the sofa and grabbed the present from Grandmére he had been squishing. He sat up and started opening it, asking, "Grandmére, when do you stop giving these?"

"I never do," Grandmére admitted, a sly smile on her face.

Aélita smiled as a grown sounded from Michel and Jay.

Jérémie threw the paper to the floor, letting it collect in the pile that was filling the center of the room. He sat the pack of underwear hidden, beside him and the armrest, saying, "Thanks, Grandmére."

Grandmére sat in her seat, a smug sort of smile on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

The next present Jérémie picked up gave Aélita a lump in her throat.

Jérémie looked at the tag before turning to look at the girl sitting next to him. "You didn't have to get me anything," he said, clearly surprised.

"Just open it," Aélita said, placing her now empty glass just under her chair. She sat back up to watch him pull the paper off the small box.

Jérémie lifted the lid off the box and stared in surprise at what was inside. He sat the lid in his lap before pulling out a palm sized black cat head. "It's Manchot," Jérémie stated. He looked over at the girl and said, "Thank you."

"Now you'll have a part of her back at Kadic," Aélita offered.

"Did you make this?"

"With your mom's help," Aélita admitted, sending a smile to the woman on the other side of Patrick.

Jérémie sat the cat head beside him, on the armrest, before going to open the rest of his gifts.

Aélita watched, content now, as he opened presents of books, cloths, and a new graphics card for his computer back at Kadic.

Once the last present of his was opened, Jérémie turned to Aélita and said, "Your turn."

"Oh, okay," Aélita said, almost forgetting about the pile at her feet. She reached down and picked up a bag, reading the tag to be from Alexa, in her mother's handwriting.

"That one's from me!" Alexa announced.

Aélita smiled at the girl before pulling out the tissue paper only to pull out a female elf, dressed very similar to Mr. Pück. She quickly caught the doll before it fell to the ground, looking at it in surprise.

"It's Mrs. Pück, so Mr. Pück doesn't have to be alone anymore," Alexa explained.

"Thank you, Alexa," Aélita said, noticing the female elf had long pink hair and an earring in only one ear. She carefully sat the elf on the armrest of the sofa, next to Manchot's head, before reaching down to pick up another gift. She was surprised to grab a squishy wrapped package. She sat up, reading the tag to be from Grandmére. Ripping into it, she blushed to find underwear. "Uh, thanks, Grandmére," Aélita said, not sure what else she should say.

"I guess you know you're family when Grandmére gives you underwear," Patrick said, leaning around Jérémie to see.

Aélita felt her face heat up even more, getting her to quickly put the package beside her chair. She reached for the next package, going for a solid box next. Sitting up she saw it was from Jérémie. Not sure what to say, since he had already given her the scarf, she went ahead and opened it. She let the paper fall to her feet at what she saw now in her lap. "You got it framed," Aélita said, her throat clogging with emotions. In her lap was the picture of her and her parents, now in a simple wooden frame.

"I'm surprised you never noticed it missing," Jérémie admitted, pushing up his glasses.

"What is it?" Béa asked, looking past Patrick.

Aélita handed it passed the two boys, unsure if her throat would let her speak. Swallowing, she managed to say, "It's the only picture I have of the three of us."

"The frame broke a while ago," Jérémie offered.

"Your mother's beautiful," Béa offered. "How old is this picture?"

"Ten years," Aélita lied.

Béa handed the picture back, much to Aélita's relief, letting Aélita place it on the floor beside the underwear.

She opened the rest of her gifts, receiving a new pink dress from Grandmére, a speaker from Jérémie's parents, and a blanket and thick coat from Jérémie.

Patrick started opening his gifts next and soon it turned to the adults, Jay, A'nt Jane, Luc, Robert, Aunt Jane, Béa, Marinette, Adien, Michel, and then it was finally Grandmére's turn.

Aélita wrapped herself in the blanket Jérémie had given her as she watched the white haired woman opening gifts from her family. Books and shirts were unwrapped, a popcorn machine in the pile, before she picked up the bag from Aélita.

Grandmére carefully pulled out the tissue paper and pulled out a snow globe with a mountain home inside the snow. She looked it over carefully before flicking it around to send the snow falling. She looked up at Aélita, across the room, and smiled. "Thank you, Aélita. Home is important, though the people are too."

Aélita smiled back, unsure what to say. She wanted to take Jérémie's family and call them her own and maybe one day she could. She glanced over at Jérémie as Grandmére moved onto the next gift. Grandmére's words from yesterday repeated themselves in her mind.

 _"Maybe before, I've got no qualms of a lady asking the boy out."_

AN: Man, the presents have changed some since the original writing of this story. Though the underwear has stayed. Blame that bit on my fifth birthday party. I still remember I was sitting next to a friend of mine that was a guy and unwrapped Blue's Clues underwear. I don't remember what he said but I still remember being embarrassed.

The original presents were as follows

Nanna (Or Grandmére as she's known now): A homemade ornament from Alexa (who has kept the same name)

Jérémie: underwear from his mom (which at the time Jay laughed and made a joke saying Aélita would be the one to see him in those.)

Aélita: a pink promise ring (this story did take place a few years later in that version, cause I had believed close to four years might have passed. I was never good at math, but that would've made Jérémie and Aélita sixteen)

Alexa: a teddy bear

Also just remembered, Alexa was originally older then George, and George had an unnamed sister. I like how everyone is now. It feels like I actually know these characters now. Though a note on the pacing of the original version, Christmas took place in chapter nine. Man I hope no one finds the original version of this…

ODD: It's out there for all to see, you know.

AN: I know.

ODD: And you promised to tell us where it was once you finished this story.

AN: I know.

ODD: Someone's going to get curious.

AN: Odd.

ODD: What?

AN: Shut up.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Aélita pulled the blanket Jérémie had given her for Christmas tighter as the day replayed itself in her mind. Opening presents had taken until a little after noon, when the adults had started cooking Christmas dinner. Dinner had been delicious, though her mind had been more on Jérémie sitting next to her as they ate in the kitchen. That was when she knew she wanted to do it. She was going to ask Jérémie if they could be officially boyfriend and girlfriend. But she didn't know how to do it. Now she laid in bed, Alexa on the side closest to the wall, as Christmas came to an end.

Carefully, as to not wake Alexa, Aélita sat up to take in the clock on Jérémie's nightstand. Christmas was officially over, the clock reading thirty-five minutes past midnight. She had been lying awake in bed for almost two hours, debating on how to ask Jérémie and when would be the best time.

Restless, she carefully pulled her legs out of the blanket Alexa was under and stood up, holding the new blanket close with both Mr. Pück and Mrs. Pück in her arms. She got up to her feet, struggling to remember where the squeaky floor boards where as she walked to the door. Pushing open the door ended up being her squeak, getting her to cringe as she turned back to look in the room. Not seeing any movement, she carefully closed the door and made her way down to the living room. She sat down in the sofa against the front window and turned to watch the snow fall. She sat Mr. Pück and his new wife down on the back of the sofa so they could watch as she repositioned the blanket to cover her better.

"Aélita?"

Aélita turned to the sound of the muffled voice to see Jérémie, a hand rubbing his eye as he walked over to her without his glasses on. "Sorry, did I wake you?" Aélita asked in a whisper.

"I wasn't fully asleep," Jérémie admitted, sitting so he faced out the window beside Aélita.

Aélita stared at him while he watched the falling snow before asking, "What does the world look like, without your glasses?"

"I can only really see good up to about here," Jérémie offered, holding a hand just short of arm's distance away. He dropped his arm to his lap and looked at Aélita. "After that it becomes blurred. Both of my eyes give me double vision so try imaging four of the same object not exactly in the same spot."

"Is it annoying when you're not wearing your glasses?" Aélita asked, this conversation feeling like many they had had back when she had been stuck in Lyoko. She missed this feeling.

"I'm just used to it, I guess," Jérémie admitted with a shrug. He gave her a smile before adding, "I wish I could show you what Christmas lights look like to me, though. I used to sit under the tree with Manchot and stare up at the lights."

"I'd like to do that with you," Aélita said, turning her eyes back to the falling snow outside. Fear built up inside her as she got closer to admitting her feelings. Why had it been so easy back when she first came to Earth? The snow fell softly outside, giving her a shiver. She pulled the blanket closer, holding it together just under her chin. She wasn't totally sure what she wanted to say, but opened her mouth nonetheless. "Jérémie."

"Hum?" Jérémie turned to look at her, getting her to look into his blue eyes. He seemed more venerable without his glasses, but she liked being able to see his eyes without the lenses in the way.

"I love you." It came out a little too loud, getting her to freeze in fear. She stared at Jérémie, hoping to find an answer to her unasked question.

Jérémie's gaze softened into the look she had caught in secret a few times. He rested his hand on her knee, covered in blanket, and said, "That's why I've been trying to contact Franz Hopper." His cheeks blushed as he continued, "It didn't feel right dating the daughter of a man who I can't talk to. I guess you could say I wanted his blessing."

Aélita smiled, trying to imagine Jérémie and Franz Hopper talking face to face. "I hope, one day, you will be able to talk to Daddy," she admitted.

"Just, um, know this," Jérémie started, his blue eyes looking down at the center of the sofa. He looked up at her and continued. "I love you, Aélita."

Aélita let go of her blanket and embraced Jérémie in a hug, pulling him as close as she could get with both of their knees in the way. After a moment she felt Jérémie wrap his arms around her back.

-.-.-.-

"Morning, you two," Marinette's voice said.

Aélita slowly opened her eyes, finding herself still sitting on the sofa, her Christmas blanket wrapped around her. She took in the dark haired woman standing in front of her, the woman giving her a smirk, before turning to see Jérémie waking up beside her. She turned back to Patrick's mom and smiled. "Good morning."

"Morning, Aunt Marinette," Jérémie said, pushing himself up off the sofa only for two blurs to fall behind the sofa. He turned around as Aélita got to her knees to peek over.

"Oh shoot," Aélita mumbled, seeing Mr. Pück laying on top of Mrs. Pück behind the sofa. How they had stayed on the back of the sofa all night, Aélita wasn't sure. She got to her feet, wrapped in her new blanket as Marinette moved to the sofa's side. She and Jérémie stepped to the side as the woman moved the end of the sofa. Marinette quickly leaned down and grabbed the two dolls, handing them back to Aélita.

"Thank you," Aélita said, not for the first time thinking about what Sissi had said about being too old for dolls.

"No prob," Marinette offered, moving the sofa back into place. "You two should go ahead and get dressed. And while you're up there, tell my child we're leaving today."

"Yes ma'am," Jérémie offered as the two walked up the stairs.

"It feels weird now that everyone's leaving," Aélita commented, following Aélita.

"I think Grandmére said she was staying for New Years. Maybe you can go back to having your own bed soon though," Jérémie said,

"It'll be weird sleeping alone," Aélita realized as they got to the second floor landing.

Grandmére's voice sounded from the room across from Jérémie's, getting the two to stop. Aélita couldn't make out the words, but it sounded urgent.

"She's probably got some business deal she has to work on," Jérémie said, noticing Aélita's pause. "I don't know if she'll ever retire from some sort of job."

"I guess it's good to keep busy," Aélita offered, the two walking into Jérémie's bedroom. She took in the sight of Patrick and George waking up, Alexa still only a bundle of blankets. She went over to the bunk, sitting down her two elves.

"Patrick, you mom wants to leave soon," Jérémie informed as he went over to his bed.

She heard Patrick respond but couldn't make out what he said. She gently grabbed Alexa's shoulder. "Morning, Alexa."

Alexa opened her eyes, moving so the blanket revealed her head and a bit of her shoulder. Aélita could see Jean-Luc still in his vest in her grip as she gave Aélita a smile. "Good morning."

"You sleep well?" Aélita smiled back.

"Yap." Alexa sat up, letting the blanket fall off her shoulders.

Aélita let her get up, dropping her blanket onto the foot of the bed before leaning down to dig through the pile forming under the cot. She was going to have to ask Béa to use the washing machine today. She was on her last clean dress.

YUMI: Aww

AN: Yumi?

YUMI: What?

AN: You say something?

YUMI: No. Why?

AN: Ok.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Oooo, an Author's note before the chapter! You know something goes down now! This is the chapter that has that sensitive material warned in the synopsis. If you are sensitive to accounts of attempted rape, then skip this chapter.

Chapter 17

"Uh, I think that goes this way," Jérémie offered.

Aélita looked at the leg she was trying to fold back into the frame of the metal cot, giving it a tug towards Jérémie's end. Patrick and Alexa's families both had headed home just after lunch, making it so only three beds were needed in Jérémie's room. Currently they were fighting with Patrick's squeaky cot, trying to fold it back up. The leg gave in resistance, shooting Aélita face first to the floor.

"Aélita!" Jérémie exclaimed.

Aélita pushed herself up to her hands and knees, letting out a laugh. "Who knew these things were so finicky." She looked up at Jérémie, giving him a smile to his worried face.

Jérémie held out his hand, a smile working on his face. "I think they're military surplus, so who knows how old they really are," Jérémie offered.

Aélita took the offered hand to help herself back to her feet. "I guess tonight'll be the last night we get to share a room, huh?" Aélita asked as she went back to what had been the foot of Patrick's bed. She pushed the other leg towards Jérémie, carefully this time.

Jérémie turned his eyes away from her as he mumbled, "Yeah, George and his parents are planning to leave tomorrow so my parents want you to move into the guest room across the hall from them," Jérémie admitted.

The bed leg clicked, dropping down like its partner so that Jérémie could work on the front legs. Aélita held the bed in place as Jérémie fought with the legs. "Is Jay supposed to stay for New Years?" Aélita asked.

Jérémie let out a grunt as the leg gave out from under him, folding into place. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, brushing his bangs out of his eyes as he said, "I think he plans to leave Sunday." He moved to the last leg and forced it down before adding, "He hasn't been that bad this year, aside from Monday night."

A knock sounded from the doorway, getting Aélita to look over her shoulder and see Michel stepping into the room. "Jérémie, your mom wants us downstairs real quick," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, okay." Jérémie looked over at Aélita and asked, "Can you get this to the attic by yourself? There should already be some up there."

"I've got it," Aélita nodded her head. She watched Jérémie step over the cot and follow his father out of the room before looking back down at the cot. She finished folding it up, ending up with an olive green metal and canvas square. Carefully she picked it up, it being heavier than she expected, and drug it out of Jérémie's room. She went over to the door beside the bathroom and sat the cot down so that she could open the door. What looked like it should be a linins closet was actually a set of stairs leading up to the attic. Grabbing hold of the bed, Aélita made her way up the steps. As she peeked the stair case a loud burp startled her. Turning to take in the large space above the second floor, she found Jay sprawled out in an old pink chair, a leg hanging over the armrest and an empty beer can on the floor. She was about to excuse herself, worried she wasn't supposed to be there, when she though he must be asleep. As quietly as she could, she pulled the cot over to a starting line of cots she assumed to have belonged to Patrick and Alexa's parents, counting six with Patrick's cot added. She turned to go back to the steps when a chuckle froze her in her steps.

"Finally away from my nerd nephew, 'ey 'Lita?" Jay's voice asked, a bit slurred.

Aélita turned back to the chair as the large man pulled himself into a proper sitting position, more cans appeared squashed under him. "Afternoon, Jay," Aélita said, trying to be polite with the drunken man.

"Don't give me that… bull crap," Jay said, leaning forward a moment before standing up. He caught his balance and looked her down. "I've seen how you look at me. Why do you stay with him?"

"Um, I'm going to leave now," Aélita said, not sure what to expect from the man. She turned to go back down the stairs only for Jay to grab hold of her arm. She turned back to the man, giving a sharp tug on her arm. "Let go," Aélita ordered through her teeth. On the inside she was panicking, not able to predict what Jay might do.

"Not until you tell me the truth," Jay said, pulling her towards him.

Aélita struggled, surprised to find the man so strong.

Jay wrapped his free arm around her, pulling her close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath. His hand groped at her chest as she continued to struggle.

Tears came to her eyes, her emotions running ramped as she pushed and pulled against the man. "Let go of me!" she ordered, her voice stronger then she thought she was.

"Tell me the truth," Jay ordered, his hand digging into her arm as her chest started to hurt by his other hand.

"Jay!" Jérémie's voice exclaimed.

Aélita looked over to the stairway to see Jérémie running at them, rage on his face.

"Let her go!" Jérémie demanded, swinging a fist at the man's head.

The impact was enough of a distraction for him to release his grip on Aélita. She quickly stepped behind Jérémie, who had both hands in fists at the ready.

"What's going on up here?" Michel asked as footsteps ran up the stairs.

Aélita turned and saw through the tears streaming freely from her eyes Michel, Luc, and Grandmére running into the attic.

"Jay tried to rape Aélita," Jérémie accused, pointing a finger at the drunk man nursing his cheek.

"You did what?!" Grandmére exclaimed as she walked over to her son. She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. " _What_ did you do?" Grandmére asked, enunciating each word.

"Can't you all see she's lying to ya?" Jay asked, ripping his chin out of his mother's hand.

"Luc, take Aélita downstairs to Jane and Béa," Michel said in a hushed voice before walking over to Jay and Grandmére.

"Come on, sweetie," Luc said, giving Aélita a sad smile.

Aélita threw a last look at Jérémie's back, a hand still in a fist, before walking down the stairs. She kept a hand on the handrail, her whole body shaking. She glanced down at herself as she stepped off the last step only to realize a few of her buttons had come undone, her bra almost visible. She tried to button them back up but her hands wouldn't cooperate.

"Come on, let's see about getting you some tea," Luc said, stopping behind her. "Maybe that will help calm you down."

Aélita nodded her head, looking up at the blonde haired man to see him looking at her with sympathy. She turned back to watch where she was going as she went down the second set of stairs and turned into the living room to find Béa and Jane sitting on the sofa. The two women stopped what they were talking about as they took her in.

"Can we get some tea going?" Luc asked. "I think she's in shock."

"Shock? What's going on up there?" Jane asked, the two standing up.

Aélita walked with the three into the kitchen and sat down where Luc offered her a seat. He left her to step over to the stove where Béa was filling up the tea pot with water and Jane was pulling out a box of tea leaves. In a hushed voice that Aélita could still hear, Luc said, "Jay tried to rape her."

"What!?" Béa exclaimed. She looked over at Aélita, shock on her face.

Aélita's eyes traveled over to Jane as she walked out of the kitchen, disappearing into the living room. She walked back in with the blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around Aélita's shoulders. "I am so sorry," Jane tried, sitting in the seat next to Aélita. "There is no excuse for what he did."

Aélita pulled the blanket closer to her chest, unsure what to say as she looked down at the table. "Jérémie saved me," Aélita ended up mumbling.

"I should call the cops for what you just pulled!" Michel's voice yelled as footsteps could be heard, resonating close to the front door.

"Well, fine, kick me out!" Jay yelled back.

A loud thump could be heard, Aélita noticing the three adults looking towards the wall separating them from what was happening.

"I'll do more than that, no child of mine ever should act as you have," Grandmére's voice resonated loudly. "I disown you as my son."

"What!? You'll pay for this," Jay called out. "Especially you, Jérémie."

The door slammed shut, Aélita flinching at the noise.

The tea pot started whistling, getting Aélita's attention as Béa picked the pot up off the stove and poured a cup. Placing the pot back on the stove, she walked over to the table and placed the mug in front of Aélita. "Here you go, love."

Aélita put her hands around the warm mug and softly blew at the drink to cool it down.

"Aélita?" Jérémie's voice called. His footsteps came from the living room, getting the girl's attention. He ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to give her a lopsided hug.

Aélita leaned her head against his stomach, finding comfort in his embrace. She felt him shaking and looked up, seeing tears run down his cheeks. "Thank you, Jérémie," Aélita offered, her voice horse.

The chair on her other side squeaked, getting Jérémie to release Aélita. She looked up at him, seeing him quickly wipe his eyes from underneath his glasses. Her hands still cupped around her mug reminded her of her tea, getting her to take a sip. She felt the warmth go down her throat as her adrenalin started slowing down.

"Aélita," Grandmére said, getting the girl to notice she had sat in the chair Jane had been in a moment ago. Grandmére laid a hand on Aélita's forearm as she continued, "It's up to you if we call the police."

Aélita's mind quickly wanted to say yes, anything to keep Jay away from her. Until she remembered her supposed backstory. To keep herself and Jérémie safe, she shook her head. "No, don't do that."

"Are you sure?" Béa asked.

Jérémie placed a hand on Aélita's shoulder, getting her to look up at him. His eyes were red and his hair was disheveled, but he looked down at her with love and protection. Turning back to Jérémie's family, she said, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, if you change your mind, I can always help," Grandmére offered, patting the forearm before taking her hand back. "I'll leave you alone for a moment. Drink your tea."

Aélita nodded her head, taking another sip of her drink as the woman stood up.

"Come on, give her some space," Grandmére said, herding the adults out of the room.

"I need to find George," Jane mumbled as she left.

Jérémie turned to leave, getting Aélita to quickly flash out a hand and grab his sleeve. Jérémie stopped and turned to look at her.

"Don't leave," Aélita said, her voice sounding small and frail to her ears.

"Alright," Jérémie said, pulling out the chair on his side of her and sitting down.

Not until she knew he was seated did Aélita let go of his shirt. She took her mug back in both hands, noticing her hands shaking again. She let out a sigh, without taking a sip and sat the mug back on the table.

"I'm sorry, I should never have left you," Jérémie mumbled.

"You couldn't've known," Aélita pointed out. She looked down at her tea only to notice her buttons again. Letting go of the mug, she tried to button them up only to have a similar result as earlier.

"I should've realized Jay had disappeared," Jérémie said. He looked up and watched her fight with her dress buttons a moment before asking, "Do you want help?"

"Please," Aélita said, exasperated as she let her shaking hands fall to her lap. "I can't stop shaking."

Jérémie carefully reached over and froze an inch away from her chest as she flinched involuntarily.

"Sorry," Aélita muttered, turning her head. She felt Jérémie button up her dress, ashamed she had flinched away from his touch. She felt his hands at her neck as he buttoned the last one up and turned back to him, brushing her chin against his hand as he took it back. She turned back to her tea and took a sip.

"I know it's not my business, and you don't have to answer this," Jérémie said, looking down at his hands in his lap. He looked up at her before asking, "What did he do before I got there?"

Aélita's mind's eye quickly flashed back to when she had noticed Jay, wishing her past self to just leave then. She focused on the liquid in the cup before her as she said, "He kept going back and forth from claiming I loved him and that I was lying. My struggling must've undone my buttons…" her voice fell away as a pain appeared in her chest. She leaned forward so that the blanket draped over her shoulders would hopefully hide her movement from Jérémie as she pressed her palm against her chest.

"Are you okay?" Jérémie asked, clearly seeing the movement.

"It hurts a bit," Aélita admitted through closed teeth. The wave of pain settled into a low throbbing, beating in time with her heart beat.

"Do you want me to get Mom?" Jérémie asked, already moving to stand up.

"No, it's not that bad," Aélita said, not wanting to be any more of a burden to his family. She straightened back up and went to take a sip of her drink with both hands on the mug.

"At least with Lyoko, I feel like I can help," Jérémie mumbled as he sat back down.

"Who knows what might've happened if you hadn't've come to the attic when you did," Aélita said, not wanting him to sell himself short. She sat the mug down and looked at him. "What got you up there? Didn't your mom want you down stairs?"

Jérémie's cheeks quickly took on a dark shade of pink as he said, "Mom wanted Uncle Luc and Dad to talk to me, and Uncle Luc was still in the guest room. Dad and I were going to his room when I thought I heard you yell." He let out a bit of a laugh as his cheeks loss their color. "My first thought was Xana," Jérémie admitted. "In a way, I'd rather it had been."

"Well, he is your uncle."

Jérémie's features went hard as he looked her in the eye. "He is _not_ my uncle. Not after that. Not after what he tried to do to you." He placed his hand on hers, next to her mug. "I don't want to lose you, Aélita."

AN: Esh, Jay! But really better then how it turned out in the first version. Then he had kidnapped her and was working on deflowering her in his truck with the help of drugs. In that version he got poisoned and died of overdosing on the drug he gave Aélita, and she ended up sick for the rest of the time.

ODD: You are sick.

AN: That was my past self.

ODD: But still.

AN: I do wanna keep the main points of this story that I had back in 2011. That was kinda the whole point of this. And that was a big plot point.

ODD: I don't wanna be a part of your head anymore.

AN: Too bad!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Aélita sat in the love seat, her head resting on Jérémie's shoulder as she curled up next to him, mindlessly watching the TV. Michel and Béa had the remote, the two sitting on the sofa flipping through channels as Manchot slept on the back of the sofa. Images of cartoons and live action flashed across the screen, none of it catching Aélita's attention as she felt Jérémie's hand run through her hair before resting on her shoulder.

"I'm heading out. Anybody need anything?" Grandmére asked, sticking her head out of the stairwell as she put on her coat.

"We're gonna need some milk," Béa said.

"I thought we had-"

"I'll be back soon," Grandmére called out, cutting off what Jérémie was saying. She quickly opened the door and disappeared outside, leaving Jérémie looking over Aélita's head.

"plenty of milk," Jérémie mumbled, finishing his sentence.

"I know Patrick had milk every morning last week," Aélita pointed out.

Jérémie turned his head back to the TV, getting Aélita to pay attention to the screen to some exploration show.

Aélita smiled as Jérémie's head rested against her. Her smile faulted as her mind took her back to Friday. Jay hadn't left the yard until a little bit before dinner and every time she had passed a window, fear shot through-out her at the sight of his red truck. Her chest still twinged in slight discomfort every now and then at his rough treatment.

"You okay?" Jérémie asked, lifting his head to look at her.

Aélita realized she had just shivered and pushed herself closer to Jérémie. "Just a chill," Aélita lied.

"You want the TV? I've got some stuff I need to work on upstairs," Michel asked as he stood up.

"Sure." Jérémie held out his hand as his father passed the remote, walking in front of the two on his way out of the room. Jérémie started flipping through channels, letting each show be on screen long enough to hear a fraction of a sentence before moving on.

Aélita watched the channels pass before her eye until she jumped at the sight of a cartoon with an elephant. Jérémie was already moving onto the next channel as Aélita called out, "Hey, go back."

"Huh, sure," Jérémie said, quickly flipping back to the cartoon. "This?"

"It looks familiar," Aélita said, watching as a small elephant dressed in cloths constructed a castle. She scrunched her face, trying to remember why she knew these characters.

"You probably grew up watching it as a kid," Béa offered. Aélita sat up to look at the woman, seeing a smile on the blonde's face. "Babar was Jérémie's favorite as a kid too."

"Babar," Aélita said, testing the name on her tongue. "Wasn't there a…" she struggled to recall the name playing in the back of her mind, "Celeste?"

"Yeah, she's his wife in the adult segments," Jérémie offered. "You wanna watch it?"

"Sure," Aélita smiled, leaning back against Jérémie. The half hour passed quickly and before she knew it, the story was wrapping up. Just before the credits started to role, a car horn sounded from outside.

"What?" Jérémie asked, surprised at the sound as Aélita jumped up. The two turned to look out the window behind them to see a large van pulling up the driveway.

"Do you have more family coming for New Year's?" Aélita asked, turning to look at Jérémie only to see him looking as confused as she felt.

"Not that I knew of," Jérémie admitted, turning towards his mom. He opened his mouth to ask a question but was cut short of doing so.

"Go ahead and turn the TV off," Béa said, getting to her feet as Manchot took that as her cue to leave the room. "Aélita, we might have to move where you're sleeping again."

Aélita stared at her, confused for a moment before the door opened, taking her attention.

"Aélita! Jérémie! Guess who!" Odd's voice called out as Kiwi came running through the open doorway.

"Kiwi!" Aélita exclaimed, the little dog looked this way and that before hearing his name. He ran into the living room and jumped up into Aélita's lap, promptly giving her a lick on the cheek. He jumped laps, going to Jérémie's, to give him a lick.

Odd led the way in through the front door with two girls of purple and blonde hair following him in. Aélita and Jérémie jumped to their feet, Kiwi jumping to the floor to run over to Odd, as Robert and Marguerite Della Robbia walked into the living room followed by Grandmére laughing with Akiko and Takeo Ishiyama, Hiroki and Yumi following their parents.

"How…" Aélita started to ask as Ulrich, Bruno, and Carole Stern finished the preceding. Carole closed the front door behind herself as Aélita tried again, "How'd you all.. Why?"

"That would be my doing," Grandmére said as the group of twelve started pulling off their coats and sitting down their luggage. "The problem with sending you to a boarding school, us parents don't get to talk."

"Thank you, Grandmére," Jérémie said, smiling up at the woman.

"Excuse me, everyone!" Michel called out from the base of the stairs. The busy living room calmed down as everyone looked at the man, letting him say, "I'm sure we all wanna talk but maybe first we should get the sleeping arrangements settled."

Quickly Aélita found her bed back to being a shared cot in Jérémie's room, this time with Yumi as Ulrich refused to sleep in the same bed as Odd. She watched as Grandmére gave her room to Bruno and Carole, moving onto a cot in Michel and Béa's room. Takeo, Akiko, and Hiroki found themselves in the study where Jay had made it home for the past week as did Jérémie's robots, and Robert, Marguerite, Adele, and Pauline, Aélita still wasn't sure who was who of Odd's sisters, in the guest room Aélita had slept in the previous nights.

Aélita was laying her new blanket out on the newly unfolded cot as Yumi pushed her suitcase under the bed, glancing over at her dolls sitting in the window sill.

"Who's the girl one?" Yumi asked, standing back up.

"One of Jérémie's cousins gave me her," Aélita offered. "She said it was Mrs. Pück."

"That's cute," Yumi offered, leaning over the bed to pick up the girl elf. Looking it over, Yumi added, "Kinda looks like you."

"I guess if I grew my hair out," Aélita said, looking at the elf in Yumi's hand.

"Odd! You're already making a mess!" Ulrich called out, getting the two girls to turn around.

Aélita let out a laugh, the spot where George's cot sat now being Odd's space where it already looked like his suitcase had exploded. A wagging tail showed Kiwi to be in the pile of cloths.

"I'm just trying to make Kiwi comfy," Odd defended.

A hiss came from the door, turning all eyes to the small black cat standing in the doorway.

"You have a cat?" Ulrich asked.

Jérémie dashed forward and picked up the cat, holding her in both arms as he stroked her back. Jérémie gave Odd's bed a look before turning his eyes to the boy. "What does Kiwi think about cats?"

Odd gave him a shrug before unburying Kiwi from the cloths and picking him up. "I don't know, but they should be able to properly meet," Odd admitted.

Aélita stood on the other side of Odd's cot with Yumi as Ulrich took the few steps to stand beside her, the three trying to stay out of the way.

Odd squatted down onto the floor and placed Kiwi down on his paws, keeping his hands at the dog's shoulders. Letting go, Odd ordered, "Sit, Kiwi."

Kiwi promptly did as ordered, tilting his head up to look at Odd with his tongue hanging out.

Odd balanced on the balls of his feet and waited a moment, to make sure Kiwi stayed. Staying on the floor himself, Odd looked up at Jérémie and said, "Okay, put her down at your feet."

"They won't attack?" Yumi asked.

"Kiwi's not one for attacking, unless it's Xana," Odd reminded. "But I'm still down here, just in case. Just went through this with Marie's new iguana."

"Iguana?" Jérémie asked, surprise clear on his face as he kept hold of Manchot.

"It'll be fine," Odd reassured.

Jérémie nodded his head before leaning down to sit Manchot on her paws. He released her, staying down in a bent position.

Aélita leaned over Odd's cot, careful not to make it squeak in case it was Patrick's old one, and watched as Manchot stretched herself forward without leaving the spot her paws occupied. She raised up a forepaw, as if to bat at Kiwi, only to second guess herself and sit her paw back on the ground.

Kiwi took his tongue back in his mouth and lowered his head.

Manchot took a step forward to sniff Kiwi, raising a paw again to tap Kiwi on the head. Kiwi tilted his head, as if asking why she had done that. Giving up, he opened his mouth again and started wagging his tail.

Manchot mewed something under her breath before going around Kiwi, brushing her fur against his.

Odd let out a snort, getting back to his feet. He looked up at Jérémie as the blonde stood straight and said, "I think your cat just claimed Kiwi."

"She's getting mellow," Jérémie admitted as he kept his eyes on the two as Kiwi got to his feet. Jérémie watched Manchot leave Kiwi to go and jump onto Odd's bed. He turned to Odd and said, "Last dog she met, I think she scared him."

"What?" Odd asked, turning to watch the cat making her way through his cloths.

Aélita watched Manchot go under a pair of pants before looking up at the three on that side of the bed. She froze as if just realizing how many people there were in the room. "It's okay, Manchot," Aélita offered, pushing off the pants so she could pet the cat. She made it down the cat's back twice before Manchot let out a meow and jumped off the bed, running out of the room and down the hall.

"What was that about?" Ulrich asked.

"She's demanding with other animals, but shy around humans," Jérémie offered. "She'll probably hide out in my parent's room for now."

"Hello," Grandmére's voice called out as the woman poked her head into the doorway. "You all wanna go for a walk up the hill?"

AN: Post me here, man this day lasts a long time! I guess days do that in real life, you know, lasting 24 hours like they do. But this day ends up with a lot happening in it!

ODD: You're gonna spoil things.

AN: No I'm not, I'm shutting up about that. Though a note about Manchot, when I first wrote this story, I had just gotten my first cat. She was a strange little cat… We picked her out at the shelter because she was putting her paw in her water dish on accident, while trying to reach out of her cage to get our attention and just flicking the water off again to try and get us to look at her. Ended up naming her Geeko after Meeko from Disney's Pocahontas and the fact that that movie came out when I was still learning how to pronounce things right and Meeko is forever Geeko to me (makes things confusing since all my raccoon stuffed animals are all Geeko and then there's the cat Geeko). But that cat was never normal. We leash trained her, took her on trips. I think she counted herself as an outdoor cat but she never wanted to stay outside for too long. About a year after we got her, she started trying to speak English, calling me by a shortened version of my name and calling Mom, Mama. She really thought we were all family, acting like I was her sister. She would hide out under my chair and watch feet go by, waiting for mine. She knew if she touched mom, she would get in trouble, touch me, no problem. She she'd jump out from under the chair and attack me. A lot. I attacked her back. We loved each other.

ODD: This is going to have a sad ending, I just know it.

AN: When we got a dog, it seemed like Geeko was telling her horror stories, the dog already jumpy to begin with since she came from an abusive house. We named her Flit, after the bird and her flitting around when she first met Geeko. Geeko seemed to claim Flit, showing her that she was the older sister of the two of them.

ODD: Ok. *sniff* what happened. Who died?

AN: No one died, Odd. I turned 19 and couldn't handle the mental abuse Mom gave me so, one Sunday, while we were at her boyfriend at the time's place I texted my grandma saying I couldn't handle it. I was ready to become homeless to get out of my mother's home. I was past ready to die to get out of the situation I was in. Funny how this was during the time without Odd in my life. Odd, you keep me happy. Anyway, once I got home from school that following Tuesday, I spent the whole afternoon packing while Mom was over at her boyfriends, every Tuesday night she would go over to his place and I wouldn't see her from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night at church. I packed up as much as I could that night and Wednesday morning, not getting a lot of sleep that night. After school Wednesday, Grandma and Granddaddy met me at Mom's house and I packed as many of my belongings into their car as I could. As I was grabbing bags of belongings, Geeko came over to me and dropped one of her toy mice at my feet. She sat down and looked up at me, meowing a last farewell. Crap, I'm crying as I write this.

ODD: *places his arm around my shoulders*

AN: I miss that cat. She knew I had to leave and she knew I couldn't take her with me. I still have nightmares of trying to rescue her out of mom's life. I don't even know if she's still alive, now that I'm disowned by my mother. Last I saw the woman, she claimed I owed her $2,000 in child care.

ODD: Of yourself?

AN: Yeah. Stupid, but that's my mother. Sad when you go all of high school with friends offering you a place to run away to. But I added Jérémie having a cat because of my love for Geeko. Her strange way of hard shutting down my laptop when I should be paying attention to her and not the light box. Her way of hiding in my stuffed animals, waiting for a moment to strike. Her little butt wiggle when she was about to pounce on me or Flit. At the time I just wanted a strange cat like my own in the story. Now I keep her in there as a memory of Geeko. Jérémie loves his little Manchot, which by the way is Penguin in French, named after her being a tuxedo cat.

LATER NOTE: Now that I'm posting these, the next chapter will take a few more days to come out because Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I'm going to be away from my computer for a bit. Also I work retail so I'm just not going to be home for much of December. I already wish it was Christmas Eve at 8pm so I know I'd be home.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Is that a new coat?" Yumi asked as the six hiked up the wood path.

Aélita glanced over at the girl and gave her a smile. "Yap. A Christmas present from Jérémie," she said, putting her mittened hands in her pockets.

"Where are you taking us?" Odd whined from the back of the line of teens.

"Come on, Odd, you can't already be tired?" Grandmére called out from ahead of Aélita.

"I've traveled half the world today," Odd complained. A yawn interrupted him from saying anything else.

"I've never known you to have a problem with that before," Grandmére said, coming to a stop beside the fir tree.

Aélita stopped so that she stood on the other side of the blue fir, gazing at it softly as her friends created a circle to include the tree.

"What's with the random fir tree?" Ulrich asked, looking around them as if looking for more fir trees in the pine forest.

"One of the many pieces to a very large puzzle," Grandmére admitted. "Sorry about bringing you all out here in the snow but I figured out here we wouldn't be overheard." She looked at Aélita and Jérémie, standing next to each other and asked, "I'm assuming you've told them that I know?"

Jérémie nodded his head.

She looked back at the group and admitted, "I guess I should start with a bit of an explanation. I worked at Kadic right before Aélita's father did, which led to Jérémie and Odd's parents agreeing to send them there. Takeo, your father" she nodded her head to Yumi, "got a job at one of my companies as a translator for our overseas marketing, and now I've made an agreement with Bruno to see about being an investor in his business. I've made friends with a lot of people in high places and a few of them owe me favors. A few days ago I pulled some of those favors." She paused, closing her eyes as she let out a sigh. She opened her eyes again and said, "A few government agencies know something about what you've been doing."

"Great, the men in black are back," Odd mumbled.

"The DGSE have records of Franz Hopper and the DRM have something on your mother, Aélita," Grandmére offered. "He should be sending me that sometime later tonight. But the problem arises with other countries. The United States have record of time anomalies, Russia has pinpointed something happening in Paris, North Korea believe France is working on building a super weapon, which in a way Xana is exactly that."

"We knew about the DGSE, they're the ones that locked Aélita and Franz Hopper in Lyoko in the first place," Ulrich said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you know what exactly those other countries know or think they know?"

Grandmére pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and removed a glove to pull up what she was after. She held the phone at a distance, trying to get it where she could read it. "Here's what my friend from the CIA was able to tell me," Grandmére said before reading aloud. "Since late 2004, we've recorded four hundred thirty-seven time distortions-slash anomalies originating from Paris, France. Lately more civilians have been reporting Mandela Effect-like stories, some going to the point of believing they are now in the wrong timeline."

"Mandela Effect, what's that?" Yumi asked, interrupting the woman.

Aélita looked at Grandmére, wondering the same thing.

"He gets into that, saying it seemed to have started back in 1994 when people started recalling Nelson Mandela's death in prison. The same man who is still president of South Africa." She looked up at the group and asked, "I'm guessing something big happened that year?"

"Franz Hopper had just perfected the time reversal program," Jérémie admitted. "He spent close to a year revisiting the same day."

She looked back at her phone and skimmed down the page as she continued, "He says there's now groups online believing they came from a world that started World War Three, all recalling it started in France. Stories from people remembering a satellite being used to shoot at France to stories about watching news of monsters, always giant crabs and large roach-like creatures. This image was added, he said it was something these people could all agree seeing." She turned her cell phone so that the group could see the image pulled up.

"The eye of Xana," Aélita said, instantly recognizing the circle and lines.

"So it's like the symbol of Xana?" Grandmére asked.

"And how we can tell when something or someone is under his control," Yumi added, nodding her head.

"We knew some would remember some of the Xana attacks as dreams but…" Ulrich's voice fell away as he let his arms drop to his sides.

"What about Russia? What exactly do they know?" Odd asked.

Grandmére turned the phone so she could poke at the screen for a moment before saying, "She said it was mostly readings; spikes in radioactive material originating from Paris, quick power spikes that didn't seem normal."

"Who would've thought Russia cared so much," Ulrich mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"North Korea has similar readings, though he does admit they are jumping to ideas," Grandmére admitted, putting her phone away. "The point is, people are getting curious. People who can start wars are thinking France is in control of a super weapon. I know that's not the reality, I know you lot save the world, but we can't tell them that." She put her glove back on and added, "I know you're working on defeating Xana, but I think you should know what's going on in the other countries."

"Ever since we learned Xana was gaining Q-bites with every return to the past, we've tried to prevent its use," Jérémie admitted.

"But when somethings happen, we can't just leave everyone knowing about it," Yumi pointed out. "Zombification, killer rats, the occasional Jim finding out about Lyoko, we can't just leave those once we deactivated the tower."

"I understand you can't just stop, and I'm not telling you to," Grandmére said, holding up her hands in defense. "I'm just warning you with what I can find out."

"Thank you," Aélita offered, giving the woman a smile.

"Now before you all get talking about what else you've learned in the past week, are you okay?" Grandmére asked, worry on her face as she eyed the girl.

Aélita realized she was putting pressure on her chest again and quickly dropped her hand. "I'm fine."

"It's been a few days, it shouldn't still be hurting," Grandmére pointed out.

"Really, it doesn't hurt that much," Aélita tried, not wanting to be a bother.

"Are you sure?"

Aélita turned to look at Jérémie only to find she was worrying him. Reluctantly she was about to ask what he would want her to do only for her inhale to bring a sharp stab of pain to her chest. Both of her hands clutched at her chest, desperate for both air and relief as she found herself doubling over.

"Aélita!" Jérémie exclaimed as she felt hands grab at her arms to keep her on her feet.

She caught enough breath to gasp out, "Sorry."

"Don't be," Yumi said, sounding from her left side.

"Hey, yeah, we need to make a trip to the doctor's," Grandmére's voice said as she talked to someone on her phone.

"Let's get her back to the house," Ulrich said.

AN: Ooo, a short chapter. About the Mandela Effect, remember I have this story taking place in 2006. Mandela hadn't died yet.

ODD: Hey look, *going through a website on Jérémie's computer* people really believe they remember these logos as photoshopped versions?

AN: While doing research for this story, I almost thought you were part of a Mandela Effect, some sites not even mentioning your sister Elisabeth.

ODD: *looks at me* What?

AN: Yeah, some Wiki stated that day you're one of five siblings, not six. But I had just written down in another notebook about all five of your sisters and a few other people still have Elisabeth in their fanfictions or pictures. So why the Wiki didn't have her, I have no idea. *I just looked it up and can't find the site my phone had pulled up that day at work… weird.*

ODD: I wonder what would happen if someone just disappeared like that.

AN: Look it up, I'm sure there's people with stories about a person disappearing out of their life in the Mandela Effect Reddit. I don't know if I quite believe it, but it is interesting and the technology is there, if we believe Tesla really could create a time machine. Don't forget about the butterfly effect.

ODD: Don't, *he shut the laptop and stood up* that's Jérémie and Aélita's field. Mine is in the kitchen.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Aélita sat back down on the paper covered bed, leaning against the wall so she was sitting up. Her chest didn't hurt too badly now, though every once in a while a twinge would go through her. She had just come back to the curtained off room from the X-ray and found Béa where Aélita had left the woman, sitting in the lone chair in the small space.

"I wish you had told us earlier you were still in pain," Béa said, looking up at Aélita from her seat.

"I just didn't want there to be any problem," Aélita admitted.

"It's my family's fault you're here in the first place," Béa pointed out. "I don't want to defend him in front of you, but I still can't believe what he did to you."

Aélita looked down at her hands in her lap, not sure what to say. Truthfully she never wanted to see Jay again.

"I'm sorry," Béa offered.

"Nothing for you to be sorry for," Aélita said, looking at the woman.

"I still feel like I should be, he was my brother-in-law," Béa said, looking down at her feet.

"Aélita Stones?"

Aélita looked up as a man in a lab coat pushed the curtains to let himself in. He pulled the curtain shut before saying, "I'm Dr. Hunnicutt. I just took a look at your X-rays and have good news. You don't have any broken ribs. It just looks like you've got some bruising in the muscles close to your lungs, which would be what caused you so much pain when you breathed." He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen from his pocket as he said, "I could write you a prescription for pain killers, though ibuprofen would work as well."

"We have ibuprofen at home," Béa said, looking up at Aélita.

"That'd be fine," Aélita shrugged only to regret the movement.

"Very well, make sure to take one with every meal for about a week," Dr. Hunnicutt said, putting the items back in his pocket as he nodded his head. He looked at Aélita and said, "Now, if it's still hurting you in two weeks, I want to you to come back and get checked out again."

"Yes sir," Aélita nodded her head as she got off of the bed. She didn't bother pointing out that in two weeks' time she'd be back in Sceaux.

"Thank you for your time, Dr. Hunnicutt," Béa offered as she stood up, picking up her purse.

Dr. Hunnicutt held back the curtain for the two to walk out ahead of him as he said, "Of course." He followed them out for a few steps before saying, "Have a great New Year's."

"You too," Béa offered as the man turned to walk into a separate room.

Aélita followed Béa out of the doctor's office and back to the car, getting into the passenger seat. She clasped the seat belt on and watched as Béa tossed her purse to the floor behind her chair before getting in.

Béa sat down in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition, shutting the door. She turned to Aélita and asked, "You wanna grab some lunch before we head home?"

"Sure," Aélita nodded her head, mentally counting how many euros she had left in her pocket.

"Alright," Béa nodded her head before reaching for her seat belt as she started up the car. "Sandwiches sound good for you?"

Aélita nodded her head, letting out a sound of confirmation. She watched out the window as Béa pulled out of the parallel parking spot and started driving towards the edge of the older section of Besançon where new buildings were starting to be built. Aélita started playing with a button on her new coat as the silence was starting to get to her. Turning to look at Béa, she asked, "Doesn't your husband work as an architect?"

"He helps deign, yes," Béa said, nodding her head as she kept an eye to the road. "This building on the right in one he worked on."

Aélita looked out her side window to take in the strangely angular building. Not knowing how to compliment a building, she said, "It does catch one's attention."

"Not exactly my favorite of his," Béa offered, flashing a smile at the girl. She turned on her blinker as she slowed down to show Aélita a small deli hiding between two large buildings. They pulled into a parking space close to the front and she killed the engine.

The two walked in and were quickly seated in the small shop. Aélita looked around as she took off her coat, the small shop's interior reminding her of an old home. "This is a cute place," Aélita commented, placing her coat on the back of her seat.

"It's on its third generation of owners," Béa offered as she sat down in the seat across from Aélita. "Anyone who's lived in the area has grown up going here."

Aélita sat down, smiling at the thought of Jérémie coming here as a child. She picked up the menu only for her smile to promptly disappear. Maybe she could get away with just a drink. She flipped the small menu to the back, finding the prices still higher then she'd like to pay.

"Oh, don't worry about paying, I've got it," Béa said, getting Aélita to look up from the menu.

Aélita gave her a smile. "Thank you."

"What can I get you two to drink?"

Aélita turned to the voice, surprised the waiter was already upon them. She quickly ordered a hot chocolate as Béa got herself a special coffee and turned back to the menu.

"Oh, I recommend their Rubén," Béa said after the waiter had left them. "I'm not a fan of sauerkraut but the way they put it together is perfect." She let out a laugh, "I might just get that myself."

Aélita smiled at the woman, keeping her eyes on the menu. She still felt weird eating anywhere beside Kadic's cafeteria. At least Rosa always showed what things would look like, some of these words unfamiliar to her. She skimmed the two pages, still indecisive, when the waiter appeared with their drinks.

"Are you ladies ready to order?" he asked, sitting down Aélita's mug and saucer with a spoon as he simultaneously sat down Béa's similar looking coffee.

"I am, Aélita?" Béa looked at the girl, waiting for her to answer.

"Uh, yeah." Aélita closed the menu and looked up at the man. "I'll take a Rubén."

"And you, ma'am?"

"Same," Béa said, handing the man her menu.

He took Béa's and reached over to take Aélita's menu before walking away.

Béa reached down to grab her purse and pulled out a decretive pill case. Flicking it open with her thumb, she pulled out a single pill and held it towards Aélita. "Here, best to start taking these now."

Aélita held out her hand to receive the ibuprofen and quickly downed it with a sip of warm cocoa. "Thank you," Aélita offered once the pill was gone.

Béa put the pill case back in her purse and leaned down to sit it on the floor as she said, "When we get home, I'll show you where I keep the bottle." She sat back up, surprising Aélita with the stern look on her face. Hushed, she said," Aélita tell me the truth. Who are you?"

Shocked, not sure where the question or sudden change in mode had come from, Aélita couldn't find the words to start speaking.

"I was talking to Marguerite on the phone while Myriam was setting up everyone coming over for New Year's," Béa started. "Imagine my surprise when I mention you, having to add that I knew you as Odd's cousin, and her having no clue about you. I even checked with Jérémie on who your mother was supposed to be. Maggie Stones does have a daughter with pink hair but she still lives in Canada and her name is Leslie. So I ask, who are you?"

"Jérémie got his smarts from more than just his father's side," Aélita mumbled, trying to come up with something to tell her. She stared at the table for a moment, her mind running through ideas that all led back to what she had told Jérémie almost a week ago. She didn't want to lie to Jérémie's family. She clutched the locket resting on her chest and looked up at the woman. "I'm sorry for lying to you."

"So who are you?" Béa repeated. "And how do you have all the correct documents?" Béa's eyes narrowed as she asked, "Did you assume someone else's identity?"

"No, that…" Aélita paused for a moment, not wanting to throw Jérémie into the mess but he was part of the truth. She looked down as she dropped her hands to her lap as she said, "That was Jérémie's doing so I could be accepted into Kadic." She took a breath and said, "My real name is Aélita Hopper."

"So why with the fake identity?" Béa asked. "And why did my son…" her voice fell away as she realized what that meant Jérémie could do. "He is in so much trouble when we get home."

"Please. Don't get mad at him," Aélita said, worried for Jérémie as her head snapped up to look at Béa. "When he hacked into the Canadian government, we thought I was an-" She paused, realizing how weird and absurd it would sound. "We still thought I was an AI."

"An AI?" Béa echoed, her face softening a moment. The hard features came back as she said, "Come on, how gullible do you think I am?"

"Here you are, ladies," the waiter announced, appearing at the side of their table.

Aélita flashed him a smile to be polite as he sat her sandwich down in front of her, saying a quick "Thank you." She looked down at her Rubén, her stomach doing flips at the conversation she was currently having.

Béa gave him a similar polite nod and waited for him to leave before turning a hard gaze to Aélita, still waiting for an answer.

Aélita shook her head softly, smiling as she noticed where Jérémie got his head shape. _What a stupid thing to notice at a time like this_ , Aélita realized to herself as she said, "I don't believe you're gullible, Mrs. Belpois. But the truth is weird. I don't remember idioms very well, but I believe one says that truth is weirder than fiction."

"Well I don't believe you're an artificial intelligence," Béa said before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I'm not," Aélita shook her head. "I had lost my memories, so that's what we thought I was."

"Then what are you?" Béa asked, almost disbelievingly.

"Human," Aélita smiled. "I guess I'm just a little older if I had lived my life properly." She let out a sigh, trying to figure out how best to tell her. Grandmére was easier, though she had Jérémie both of those times. "I was born in 1982, at your mountain home. I don't know if you saw the man you bought the house from in '88, but that was my father, Franz Hopper."

Béa's brows increased in thought. "But that was twenty years ago." Her eyes shot open as ideas ran through her mind. She opened her mouth to ask something.

Aélita quickly cut her off, wanting to tell her the truth instead of having her believe something she came up with. "In '94, my father and I were trapped in a virtual world he created. In 2004, Jérémie found me. In that time, I didn't age. My body had been converted to digital code and when it was turned off, I stopped existing," Aélita said, hoping the woman believed her.

Béa looked at her a moment, digesting the information before picking up her sandwich to take a bite. Aélita looked down at her own sandwich, her hunger still absent. She looked back at Béa, the woman chewing slowly.

Swallowing, Béa asked, "Who all knows?"

Not expecting that to be Béa's question, Aélita stated, "Jérémie found me. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi helped him to get me back to the real world. A boy named William from school, and Grandmére."

"Myriam?" Béa checked.

"We told her last week when she realized I wasn't related to Odd," Aélita admitted, cursing that small lie to have led to this.

"You need to eat. You shouldn't take ibuprofen without eating something," Béa said.

Aélita looked down at her sandwich and forced herself to take a bite. She still wasn't satisfied, she had left out half of the story. But fear of what Béa would do, knowing her son fought against a virus that wanted him dead, stopped her.

"Who's William?" Béa asked.

Aélita regretted adding him to the list she told her as she swallowed the bite of Rubén. Without sitting the sandwich down, her stomach reminding her of her hunger now that she had tasted food, she said, "He helped us fight Xana."

Béa froze, her mouth about to take a bite when the sandwich didn't make it to her mouth. She sat down the Rubén and asked, "Okay, a few questions. Who's Xana? Why did he help you fight Xana? And why was that in the past tense?"

"William's not dead," Aélita started off with. She took a bite and quickly swallowed, sitting the sandwich down. "My father created a program that was supposed to help with government surveillance. That is Xana. Something went wrong with it and instead of just surveying the world, it-he as we refer to Xana, wants to destroy the world. He was given Lyoko, the virtual world, as a home while he was learning and uses it to connect to the real world. We have to go to Lyoko and disconnect him from how he's accessing our world."

"So did William stop helping you?" Béa asked, showing her confusion.

"The first time we took him to Lyoko, Xana ended up possessing him," Aélita admitted. "Right now he's Xana's prisoner and puppet. Ever since the school year started up, we've been trying to free him."

"Does his parents know?"

Aélita shook her head. "With the supercomputer Lyoko's housed in, Jérémie and I created a sort of hologram of William. We had only intended it to be his placeholder so people didn't ask questions. We've had a tower activated, running William's program, for almost four months now."

"How has no one found out?" Béa asked, surprised.

"Uh, how much of quantum theories and physics do you know?" Aélita answered with, not sure how involved she could get.

"Just the basics. Not my field," Béa admitted.

"My father created a time reversal program into the super computer," Aélita started with. "Not quite a time machine, it can only send those who've gone to Lyoko back in time and we've never tested it farther back then a few days. It's annoying enough to have to redo school work a few days back," Aélita added. Looking Béa in the eye, she said, "Once we deactivate the tower Xana uses to gain access to this world, if he caused damage or someone found out about him, us, or Lyoko, we go back to before the event."

Béa took another bite of her lunch before saying, "I just can't see it."

"See what?"

"Jérémie physically fighting. His inability to fight back is what got him moved all the way out to Kadic in the first place."

"What?" Aélita asked, surprised and worried as a pain, unrelated to how Jay had treated her, appeared in her chest.

Béa nodded her head. "In the lower school he went to over here, he ended up becoming the punching bag for some of his older classmates. Even going to a school for those who were gifted got him a grade above his age, but bullies will be bullies. For year five, with Myriam's suggestion, we sent him off to Kadic. So I can't see him fighting."

"He doesn't much," Aélita admitted, her mind flashing back to the attic when Jérémie punched Jay. The years of fighting Xana were changing him. "Mostly he protects us while we're on Lyoko, typing in the codes for our equipment, warning us of Xana's monsters. The stuff that, without him, Xana would've destroyed France at least a few times over." Aélita remembered the trouble Jérémie was in now and quickly added, "Please don't be mad at him."

Béa smiled at Aélita. "I'm not mad," Béa admitted. "Just worried as any mother would be. I guess I should start teaching him the proper way to hack, the field changes quickly now." She took a sip from her drink before asking, "With all that technology, I can come up with a few things that might have come to his mind. What stupid things has he done?"

Aélita's mind quickly flashed back to a year ago, with the return to the past project he had hid from them, to when he sent a clone of himself to take care of his problem of being in two places at once.

"What, that many?" Béa asked.

"I guess the stupidest would have to be from back when I was still stuck in Lyoko, back when we thought I was an AI," Aélita offered. She smiled at the memory. "Jérémie and I had had a fight, I don't even remember what about anymore, and he wanted to apologies face to face. Yumi told me he had written everything down for her to be able to send him to Lyoko and she must've hit a wrong button somewhere. Jérémie got stuck in a limbo between Lyoko and Earth." She shook her head, remembering it as the first time she got to see him, to touch him. "Almost killed himself to say sorry."

Béa smiled softly. "I blame his father, but it sounds like something he would do." Aélita looked at her quizzingly, getting her to say, "Back when Michel and I were dating, he had ended up being late for a date. He almost got run over, running from a flower shop across the street, getting flowers as an added apology."

Aélita picked up her sandwich again, content now. She was about to bite into her sandwich when she realized something. "I'm going to have to tell Mr. Belpois all this too, aren't I?"

"Jérémie can help," Béa said, giving a smile to the girl.

AN: Not exactly the most normal way for a woman and her potential daughter-in-law to get to know each other better but I thought they needed some bonding.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Aélita followed Béa into the house only to hear Bruno's loud voice exclaiming, "You've risked our children's lives!"

"You'd be dead if it wasn't for Jérémie!" Ulrich's voice defended.

Aélita looked over at Béa, her own panic reflected in the woman's face. The two turned and rushed into the living room to find Yumi, Odd, Ulrich and Jérémie lined up in front of the TV, Michel holding Jérémie's shoulders as he stood behind his son. Seated around the room was the three sets of parents, staring down the teens before them in a mix of confusion, rage, or disappointment, strange on Odd's parents. Off to the side stood Hiroki, Adele, and Paulina, taking in what was happening before them.

"Who knows what going to a virtual world has done to you, did you ever thing of that?" Bruno asked, standing in front of his seat of the sofa.

"We've all weighed the risks," Yumi defended.

"Hold it!" Béa exclaimed, getting all eyes turned to them. "What's going on here? Why are the kids on trial?"

"Wait till you find out what your son's been doing," Takeo said.

"I _know_ what he's been doing," Béa admitted.

Jérémie was the first to turn to her in surprise. "You do?"

"I told her over lunch," Aélita admitted. "She learned I wasn't Odd's cousin."

"Yeah, that lie started this mess," Odd admitted, motioning to the adults.

"Where's Myriam?" Béa asked, looking over at Michel. "She should be here too."

"She went into the kitchen," Odd's sister with hair like her mother's said, pointing her thumb to the room beside her.

"Myriam?" Marguerite asked, looking at Béa. "Why?"

"I heard my name," Grandmére said, poking her head out of the kitchen only to freeze at what she saw. "What happened?"

"You've got to get your hearing checked, Mom," Michel said, releasing Jérémie's shoulders.

"Your grandso-"

"Bruno, stop accusing Jérémie," Carole interrupted her husband.

"He's the one that sends them to this… this Lyoko," Bruno exclaimed.

"Are you lot still going on about that?" Grandmére asked, walking over to stand beside her son and grandson.

"You knew about it?" Michel asked.

"Yeah, I had left the room because I'd already heard the story once before," Grandmére admitted. "When you started yelling, I assumed the subject had changed."

"Are you fine knowing they could be doing damage to themselves?" Akiko asked.

"Of course she's fine with it," Bruno said, cutting off the elder woman from saying anything. "Jérémie said it himself, he doesn't go to Lyoko."

Aélita's feet wouldn't let her move from where she had come into the room, confused as to how her friend's parents were taking the truth.

"He's not exactly a fighter," Béa offered in defense of her son.

"Are you saying Odd is, that the rest of his friends are?" Robert asked, his face hard and serious.

"Stop it!" Aélita ordered.

The voices stopped as everyone in the living room turned to look at her.

Aélita gripped her hands in fists at her side as she said, "Stop accusing them! Xana never gave us much of an option when the outcome would've ended in someone's death. Mr. Stern," she eyed the man, "you and your wife would've been dead, sent to space without any protection, if it hadn't been for Jérémie." She turned to look at Yumi's parents and said, "Mrs. Ishiyama, I should count the times Xana has tried to kill you, your husband, and your son." She turned to look at Odd's parents and added, "And Mrs. Della Robbia, your son had to fight to protect you from falling to your death when Xana had possessed you. Take that and the many times my friends have risked their lives to save not just all of France but the whole world from a program that just wants to destroy all life." She closed her eyes to take a deep breath, finished with her lecture.

"But who found Lyoko? Who turned on this Xana?" Bruno asked.

Aélita opened her eyes and quickly said, "You're asking the wrong questions. If you want someone to blame, blame me and my family."

"Aélita," Ulrich started.

"But it's true," Aélita said, flashing a look at her friends. She turned back to the adults and continued, "My father created Lyoko and Xana, and I was the reason why they didn't just turn off the supercomputer." Aélita swiped her eyes across the semi-circle of adults, noticing none were able to look her in the eyes.

"Hey kids, maybe we should give them some time to actually understand it all," Grandmére said, breaking the silence. She looked over at Odd's sisters and Hiroki to add, "You three as well. Let's all head upstairs."

Aélita let her friends pass her in a silent line followed by Adele, Pauline, and Hiroki before Grandmére stopped beside her.

The old woman placed a hand on her shoulder before saying, "Come on."

Aélita gave the adults one last look before turning to go up the stairs after Hiroki. She followed him into Jérémie's room where the beds were quickly being used as chairs. She went over to a free space in between Jérémie and Yumi only to realize she was still wearing her coat. Getting back to her feet, she quickly took off her coat and scarf and tossed it behind Adele and Pauline, who were sitting on her and Yumi's bed. She sat back on Jérémie's bed and glanced over at Ulrich and Hiroki sitting on Ulrich's cot.

"Well that went well," Odd commented as he sat on the floor with Kiwi to pet the dog.

"We don't have to lie anymore," Jérémie tried.

"Mom and Dad are gonna kill you," Hiroki said, his face strangely serious as he stared at his sister.

Yumi let out a grown.

"What _do_ they know?" Aélita asked, looking at Jérémie beside her.

"I was explaining about what Jay had done to you, they were curious why you were going to see the doctor," Grandmére admitted.

Yumi wrapped her arm around Aélita to grip her shoulder in a side hug. She glanced at her friend, giving her a small smile.

Grandmére knelt down to sit on the floor next to Odd, giving Kiwi a scratch behind the ears before looking up at Aélita. "Being concerned parents, Akiko wanted us to tell your mom. Marguerite's the one who told them you weren't related."

"We should never have used my family," Odd mumbled.

"No one could've predicted this," Grandmére said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. Looking up at the group, she added, "What's done is done, they all know. Now what are you going to do about it?"

Aélita looked down at her feet, the toe of her boot just making contact with the floor. She let her mind wonder, trying to think of a way to prove the good she and her friends had done while also showing they could handle what they did. She looked up suddenly, catching the eyes of Ulrich and Yumi, as she turned to the boy next to her. "Jérémie, your diary. And Franz's. They're on the supercomputer, so unaffected by the return to the pasts. Is there anything in those that might work?"

"Most of it's just Franz or I sitting in the lab, talking," Jérémie admitted. "We could tell them the same as I have recorded and it would still lack substance."

"Not all of it!" Odd exclaimed, a smile going across his face.

"Odd, what did you do?" Jérémie asked.

"Is your laptop still connected to the supercomputer?" Odd asked, getting to his feet.

"Yeah," Jérémie said, sounding apprehensive.

Odd walked over to Jérémie's desk and unplugged the laptop. Taking it over to the edge of Ulrich's cot, he sat down next to Hiroki and opened it up on his lap. "About a year ago I started recording some of the Xana attacks, thinking I could use the footage in some movie in the future." He looked up at his friends and said, "You know, claim CGI or something."

"Don't you remember what Louise went through?" Odd's sister with purple streaks in her blonde hair asked.

"Pauline, I'm not claiming other people's work," Odd said, giving Aélita a name for both of his sisters. He clicked on a few things, Aélita only able to watch from the wrong side of the laptop as they all waited for him to find what he was looking for. "Here we go, let's see." Odd leaned over to look at the screen closer only to ask, "Uhm, Jérémie, have you been hiding music in my secret video folder?"

"No," Jérémie said, getting to his feet. He walked around Ulrich's cot and leaned over Odd's shoulder to look at the laptop. His eyebrows increased in thought before he said, "Let me see that."

Odd handed him the laptop so Jérémie could sit it down on the bed behind Odd to work.

Aélita got to her feet and walked over to stand behind Jérémie to see a folder with five WAV formatted audio files. Jérémie had clicked on the first one, looking at its meta-data.

"Created October 13," Jérémie read off. "Nothing else other than file size and bit rate, everything else is empty."

"Well, play it," Ulrich said, turning so he could look at Jérémie and Aélita behind him.

Jérémie closed out of the meta-data and clicked on the first WAV file. Quickly turning up the volume, the speakers were saluted with a strange gargling of voices.

"Wait a second, that's our voices," Yumi said, getting to her feet so she could step closer to Ulrich's cot.

Jérémie nodded, silent for a moment as the voices sounded out phonics but lacked any real words. "And Delmas, Franz, Jim." He looked over at Aélita and his friends behind her as he realized, "It's the voice synthesizer program."

Akiko's voice started coming through as it started repeating the word "the" before Odd's voice took over, the nonsensical vocalization continuing.

Jérémie skipped through the track, letting them hear all the voices saying the same gargled speech. He clicked on the second one, dated November second, to hear more of the same, his voice the most noticeable in the chorus of voices. Jérémie skipped again only to freeze, his hand hovering over the mouse pad.

"The tower – the tower activated – the activated tower tower," the voice said, all voices merging into one genderless voice.

"Xana's learning how to speak," Aélita mumbled, recognizing the speech pattern.

"That's what I was thinking," Jérémie nodded his head.

"What?" Yumi asked.

The voice coming from Jérémie's computer continued relaying speech. "Tower west, tower west northwest. Behind you."

"This is how a computer learns how to speak," Jérémie offered, his eyes glued to the screen as the waves of speech passed the screen. "He's taking what he's heard from us and learning how to form the words."

A scream started to come from the track, getting Jérémie to quickly click on the next track, this one dated November seventeenth.

Aélita looked to the group in the room, seeing only Ulrich remained seated as she said, "If he mastered the use of a voice, it wouldn't take long for him to learn how to construct sentences."

"I am- you call me- I am known as," the voice was saying. Aélita was no longer able to pick out any particular voices in the synthesized voice.

"Go to the last one," Grandmére offered.

Jérémie clicked on the one dated December twentieth, surprising Aélita with how short it was.

"I am Xana. All your base. All your world. All your humans, will die. I will reprogram. I will recreate. I will delete the error in your world. Humans are error. Franz Hopper will die. Anthea Hopper will die. Aélita Hopper will die. Yumi Ishiyama will die. Ulrich Stern will die. Odd Della Robbia will die. Jérémie Belpois, you will die. Jéré- Jérémie, are my adversary. I should have calculated the risk early. Too many variables. Too many unknowns."

Aélita leaned over so she was brushing against Jérémie's side, worried. Her enemy was talking and what he had to say gave her shivers.

"You are humans. You will fail in your mission," Xana's synthesized voice continued. "Once I complete my objective, William Dunbar will die. He will be the last of your species to be deleted." The audio file ended, leaving the room in silence.

"Ooo, so spooky," Hiroki said.

"Hiroki! This isn't some movie," Yumi exclaimed. "This is real life."

"What was that?" Béa's voice asked.

Aélita turned around to see Jérémie's mother standing in the doorway with Carole, Marguerite, and Akiko behind her, all looking scared at what they had just heard.

AN: A while back I had gotten into a mood of listening to computer programs trying to learn human speech. From what I could tell, the longer the program is exposed to how voice should sound, the better what it will produce will sound. He's had two years to learn, plus all of the internet. Though Google's AI likes to watch cats, maybe so does Xana?

ODD: I can't picture him watching cats.

AN: Maybe he just watches you.

ODD: I'm not a cat!

AN: Uh, yeah, on Lyoko you are. How do you control your tail by the way?

ODD: Not answering that.

AN: So you don't have control over it! I thought that's why Aélita had to brush your tail out of her way.

ODD: No, I do have control over it. It's just… weird to explain.

AN: You know, that's just gonna make everyone reading this speculate.

ODD: NO! Not like tha-


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Can't you just reprogram him?" Béa asked.

Aélita pulled her legs under herself as she tried to get comfortable sitting on the floor in front of the TV. Everyone was back in the living room, having just heard the voice of Xana.

"We've tried a few times," Jérémie admitted. "Even just tried to delete him."

Aélita looked over to where Béa and Michel sat, on the coffee table in front of her and her friends, and said, "Daddy created him back in 1992. He's had long enough to prevent anyone from getting into his code, even with the supercomputer getting turned off.

"If any of you want to try, my laptop's connected to the supercomputer," Jérémie offered.

"Me and Béa will give a try," Grandmére said from where she sat on the sofa next to Bruno.

"Are you all happy with our children risking their lives?" Bruno asked.

"You're never happy anyway," Ulrich mumbled loud enough to be heard.

"I'm happy they're not just sitting around doing nothing, knowing what they know," Robert said, stopping Bruno from saying something to his son. "Can't you be proud of them for being heroes?"

"I can't when he's carelessly ricking his life," Bruno said, swiping a hand to motion at the five sitting in front of the TV. "Who knows what actually going to Lyoko is doing to their bodies? This Xana has vocally stated he wants them dead."

"Xana wants us all dead," Takeo pointed out. He turned and looked at Aélita to ask, "He has tried killing us, isn't that what you said?"

Aélita nodded her head.

"Whether you approve of us fighting or not, we're still gonna do it," Odd said, drawing attention to himself. He started at Bruno especially as he continued. "I didn't ask to be Xana's enemy, none of us did. There's been times when we've wanted to ask for help, but who would even believe what we've done? We fight a computer virus in a virtual world. It's been two years and it still sounds weird to me. But someone's gotta do it. Someone's gotta protect Aélita so she can deactivate the tower. Someone's gotta protect Jérémie so there's still hope. Someone's gotta protect innocent people from monster crabs and polymorphic specters intent on killing. Those someone's are us."

"Odd's right," Ulrich said, nodding his head. He turned to face his father and added, "We are going to defeat Xana and hopefully save Franz Hopper." He glanced over at Aélita. "We promised."

Aélita gave him a smile, remembering that day a few months ago.

Akiko looked at her husband, the man nodding his head, before looking down at the line of teens. "We don't know much about computers, but we can give you our support." Her eyes stopped on Yumi and said, "We'll do what we can."

Yumi got to her feet and rushed over to her parents, hugging them both at one time. "Thank you," Yumi said, her voice muffled by her mother's hair.

"We do want to know more about what all you're doing," Takeo said, hugging his daughter back.

"Yeah, of course," Yumi said, letting go of her parents. She turned to where Hiroki was sitting on the armrest of the love sofa, waiting for what he would have to say.

"What? You don't think I'd be stupid enough to tell anyone this crazy story," Hiroki said, reading the look on Yumi's face. "No one would believe it."

"Thanks Hiroki," Yumi said, rubbing his head to mess with his unruly hair.

"Odd, you know we've got your back," Pauline said from where she and her sister sat at their mother's feet.

"And your front," Adele said, a laugh in her voice at a joke unknown to Aélita.

"Thanks," Odd said, not all that enthused.

"You'll have to tell Elisabeth, Louise, and Marie," Marguerite said. "Della Robbia's don't keep secrets from one another."

"Yes ma'am," Odd said, smiling up at his parents.

"Ugh, I feel like a normal parent," Robert mumbled.

Marguerite let out a laugh, looking up at her husband sitting on the armrest of the recliner. "I know, it's so weird."

"Jérémie, we'll always be there for you," Béa said, looking down at her son. "Though before you leave to go back to school at the end of the week, I'm gonna give you some hacking lessons. One of Aélita's documents still had an IP attached that shouldn't be there."

"What? I thought…"

"Don't worry, I gave it an IP that would've come from Canada," Béa offered.

"And Aélita, I know your parents…" Michel's voice fell away as Aélita looked up at them wish surprise. Michel's features softened as he said, "Just know we'll be there for you, too."

Aélita smiled up at the couple, not expecting that. "Thank you." Her eyes focused on Bruno and Carole behind Jérémie's parents from where she sat, they being the only ones not to speak.

Carole looked at her husband, waiting for him to say something as Ulrich pointedly looked away. "Bruno, you're being pigheaded," Carole declared, getting her husband to look at her in surprise. Carole looked down at her son and said, "Ulrich, if there's anything I can do, I'll help. _Your father_ doesn't seem to see how important this is."

"I see the importance but other people risk their lives, not Sterns," Bruno defended.

"Tell that to your mother," Carole stated.

"That's exactly why. She should've been killed for what she did," Bruno reminded. "It's reckless and stupid."

"I think it was honorable and brave," Carole said, getting to her feet. She looked down at Ulrich as she added, "For both of them."

An alarm sounded out of the laptop sitting in front of Jérémie still, getting Aélita's attention to it.

"Oh no," Odd mumbled. "Hi, Xana. It's 'you-hoo, it's us' time."

Jérémie leaned forward so he could type away at his keyboard, pulling up his program that alerted of any news stations reporting anything strange.

"What do you need us to do?" Carole asked.

"Grandmére, we're gonna need you to fly us back to Sceaux again," Jérémie said.

"Again?" Grandmére asked as she pulled out her cell. "Stupid time travel," she muttered before putting the phone to her ear.

"Any idea what the Xana attack is?" Ulrich asked, leaning over on his hand so he could look at Jérémie's computer over where Yumi had been sitting.

Jérémie shook his head, his eyes skimming a few things the program was pulling up.

Kiwi's barking took Aélita's attention, turning her to where Adele and Pauline had been holding him on the floor. Kiwi ran over to the side of the entertainment system, barking at something behind it.

Aélita quickly got to her feet, her friends scrambling as well. She knew Kiwi didn't bark at nothing.

A gray specter floated up from behind the TV, getting one last bark from Kiwi before the dog let out a whimper. He backed away with both ears and tail down.

"Is that Xana?" Adele asked.

"Yap," Odd answered simply.

To Aélita it looked like Xana's specter was assessing who all was in the room. The specter quickly split into two entities before dropping passed Aélita. She quickly turned around to see the two specters disappearing into Michel and Béa.

"Mom! No!" Jérémie exclaimed.

Aélita quickly reached out to him and grabbed his chest as he took a step forward. "Jérémie," she said, holding him back as his parents dropped to their knees. Xana took hold of their bodies, knocking them into unconsciousness so he had control over them.

"What did he do to them?" Akiko asked, her husband standing in front of her to protect her.

"He possessed them," Odd offered as Jérémie's parents stood up.

Béa straightened her shoulders and back before looking at the teens in front of her, her blue eyes replaced by Xana's symbol. Beside her, her husband's face pulled into a smile, demented by Xana. He raised his hands up to take up a fighting pose.

"Odd, you go with Jérémie and Aélita," Ulrich ordered, falling into the familiar pose as he waited for the possessed to attack first.

"Dad," Jérémie said.

Michel turned to his son's voice and, almost faster than Aélita could comprehend, lashed out a foot to kick Jérémie.

Jérémie fell backwards, landing against the TV as Christmas decorations fell from the entertainment system.

Ulrich and Yumi quickly took to fighting the two adults, Ulrich reaching to punch at Michel as Yumi kicked Béa.

"Plane's ready, let's go," Grandmére said, making her way passed the four fighting as Carole let out a high round house kick on Michel to help her son.

Odd and Aélita both grabbed one of Jérémie's arms to pull him out of what had been the entertainment system.

"You okay, Einstein?" Odd asked, helping him to his feet.

Jérémie took a glance at his fighting parents as Odd released his arm. Aélita gave the arm she was still holding a squeeze. He turned to look back at them and nodded his head. "Yeah. Let's go."

AN: Why doesn't anyone have a list online of who all Xana possessed?

ODD: You should know it, you've been a Lyoko freak for how long now?

AN: I know, I know, I just wanted to double check, cause I don't remember either Yumi's parents or Ulrich's parents every being possessed.

ODD: well, now you're just gonna have to wait for the comments.

AN: Thanks Odd… Thanks.

AN: Oh, by the way, what Ulrich's parents were talking about, Bruno's mom risking her life for others, read Changing the Tide for the full version but she tried to save some Jews in WW2.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Adele held Kiwi close to her chest as she stood close to the kitchen doorway with Pauline. Ulrich and his mom seemed to be doing a good job of keeping Mr. Belpois at bay but she had no idea how Yumi and her dad were doing with Béa, the three have taken their fight to the family room.

"Didn't you take that fighting class?" Pauline asked, worry on her face as they watched their dad take a punch to the jaw.

"That was an acting class," Adele reminded.

"Same thing, isn't it?"

"No." Adele held Kiwi tight as Mr. Belpois started shooting electricity out of his hands. Her eyes went wide as Ulrich was sent sprawling into the sofa his parents had sat in only minutes ago.

"Ulrich!" Mr. Stern called out, reaching out to help his son to his feet.

"Where's Hiroki?" Adele asked, just remembering about the boy as she looked back at her sister.

"I don't see him." Pauline turned around and went through the kitchen.

Adele followed the older girl and peeked her head into the dining room to see the carnage Mrs. Belpois had caused. The Christmas tree now laid on the floor, Yumi just pulling herself out of it as Mrs. Belpois let out a B-movie's villain laugh.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Mr. Ishiyama exclaimed.

"There he is," Pauline said, pointing Adele's attention to under the dining table.

"Hiroki," Adele hissed, not wanting to draw Xana's attention to them. "Hiroki!"

The boy turned in their direction, a mix of panic and excitement on his face as he held his phone in his hand pointed at the fight.

"Come here," Adele said, hoping he could hear over the guttural growl that sounded from Mrs. Belpois.

"Ici," Pauline ordered, waving her hands to try and motion him to come over to them.

Hiroki took a glance at his sister and dad fighting before getting to his feet to duck out from under the table.

"Hiroki!" Yumi cried out, pushing herself into the path of a bolt of electricity. The girl fell to the floor, sliding along the carpet, and stopped at Hiroki's feet.

"Come on, Hiroki," Adele ordered, watching Mrs. Belpois toss Mr. Ishiyama away like he weighed nothing.

Hiroki stood, frozen in the spot, as he looked down at Yumi's body. The girl slowly gripped her hand in a fist before struggling to push herself up. She looked back at the two fighting before turning her head up at her brother. "Hiroki, run," Yumi ordered, her voice scratchy. She pushed herself up to her feet, showing a bruise forming next to her navel. She looked at Pauline and Adele and said, "All of you, get somewhere safe."

Pauline nodded her head, grabbing Hiroki's hand and pulling him into the kitchen.

Adele gave Yumi a last look, surprised the one bruise was the only damage she could see on the girl. She turned to follow her older sister, stepping back into the kitchen, the only safe room on the ground floor.

"You think they'll be okay?" Hiroki asked, his hand still in Pauline's.

"They _are_ used to this," Adele reminded, half to herself as her mind went to where her baby brother was. Even though she was only a little over a year older then Odd, he was still her baby brother. Only she and her sisters were allowed to torment him. A crash in the living room took her attention, getting her to peek out of the kitchen. Pauline called out, her voice in a hiss, but she ignored it. Fear froze her, seeing her mom laying on her side on the ground. Her purple hair sprawled away from her, an electrical burn on her face.

"Marguerite!"

Adele forced her eyes away from her mom to see her dad's face pulled with worry as he saw his wife. Tears blurred her vision as a hand rested on her shoulder, pulling her back into the kitchen. She freed a hand to wipe away the tears, stopping when the person the hand belonged to did. She opened her eyes, surprised to see who it was that had pulled her back.

"Mr. Stern," Pauline said. "What can we do? How can we help them?"

"Pray that they stop Xana on Lyoko quickly," Mr. Stern said, taking a look at the three kids. "And we'll need to find where the Belpois keep their first aid materials. Once Xana's taken care of, we're going to have our work cut out."

-.-.-.-

Aélita held onto the handles of the Overwing as she and Odd flew through the ice sector of Lyoko. The best she could come up with was that Xana was preserving energy so he could attack them in such close succession, forcing him to stick to only activating Lyoko's towers.

She kept her eyes peeled, searching the icy world as they flew towards the pulsations. She never knew if the others still felt it or not, but she sure did. Almost like Xana's heartbeat.

She noticed Odd look up at the dark blue sky before he asked, "Hey Jérémie, you still out there?"

"Just get Aélita to the tower, Odd," Jérémie said, sounding tense.

"Odd," Aélita hissed as she could hear Grandmére calling out Jérémie's name.

"What, I just wanted to make sure Xana hadn't sent something to the lab," Odd defended.

Aélita turned back to watch where she was flying, guessing Jérémie had muted himself so she couldn't hear his defense to Grandmére.

"And I'm worried about him."

Aélita turned her head back to Odd, who was watching where he was going.

"I know what it feels like to have to fight your Xanafied parents," Odd reminded. "It messes with the head. You know they're possessed, but you still see _them_ trying to kill you." He let out a sigh, adding, "You'd think with how long we've been doing this, you'd get used to separating them being possessed verses the real people."

Aélita turned back to watch where she was flying as she thought back to when Xana had posed as Franz Hopper. At the time, she didn't know the man as her father but as her creator, which was close enough. And more recently, to the bubble Xana had tricked her with just after break started the first time. "I wanna see my father when it's not Xana in disguise," Aélita mumbled.

She could see Odd turn to look at her out of the corner of her eye. Without saying a word, he turned back to watch where he was going.

The tower, encased in a wall of ice taller than it, appeared up ahead. Still no monsters were in sight.

"Jérémie, where's the monsters?" Odd asked, noticing what Aélita had.

"You speak and Xana delivers," Jérémie said as two tarantulas materialized in front of the tower. "Two tarantulas at 12 o'clock."

"Aw, I was hoping for crabs," Odd whined, holding his stomach. "I'm hungry."

"How little time it takes for your stomach to get back to French time," Aélita said, smiling at her friend.

"Look out!" Odd exclaimed, a laser blasting towards Aélita. "Laser Arrow!"

Quickly she flew out of its path as Odd's arrow made contact with the tarantula's body.

The two monsters shifted on their legs so that their front half was supported and started shooting, both aiming for Aélita.

Odd swerved over to block the lasers going after Aélita. "Shield!" Odd ordered, bringing up the digital disk to stop the lasers from doing damage.

"Don't worry about killing them," Aélita ordered, shooting a blast around Odd to tick away at the one tarantula's health. "Just get me to the tower."

"Roger Princess," Odd nodded his head. He kept his shield covering the two of them as they continued to fly closer to the tower. As they got closer, Odd asked, "So how are you getting between them?"

"By that stupid phrase, the skin of your teeth," Aélita said, ducking low to the handle bars as a laser shot over their heads.

" _My_ teeth?" Odd exclaimed.

Aélita kept her eyes on the two monsters as they flew closer to the two. She took her right hand off the handles, waiting for just the right moment.

NOW!

Quickly she swiped her hand over her bracelet and pushed upwards, taking to the sky.

Odd let out a sound, looking up to see what she was doing. She saw him grit his teeth and order his Overboard upwards. His shield disappearing as he pointed a fist at each Tarantula, crying out "Laser arrow!"

Aélita turned her attention back to her decent, folding her wings as she came to the tower. Odd let out a startled cry as Aélita unfolded her wings and landed on her feet. As quick as she could, she ran into the tower, only slowing down when she was standing on the inner circle of the platform.

Letting her body work on auto-pilot, she went through the motions of deactivating the tower with her mind worried about those left in Besançon. "Tower deactivated," she said as the code around her was cleared out.

"Devirtualization, Aélita," Jérémie's voice announced, the only warning Aélita had before being digitally taken apart.

Air released as the scanner doors opened, opening Aélita's eyes to the real world. Aélita knew it wasn't good for her to move fast right after her molecules had been reassembled but she ran out of the scanner as soon as it was opened wide enough for her to get out. Bypassing the slower elevator, she turned to the ladder and climbed her way up to the lab. Pushing through the floor, she go to her feet as a ringing sounded from the computer's speakers. She looked up to see Grandmére and Odd standing around Jérémie as they all waited for the call to go through.

Aélita stepped over so that she stood behind Odd to see the number Jérémie had dialed, recognizing it as his home phone.

Four rings now. Worry was building up in Aélita, and she knew the same was happening to her friends.

The fifth ring.

"Hello!" a voice said, almost out of breath. "Belpois residence."

"Hiroki? It's Jérémie. Can you get Yumi or Ulrich on the phone?"

"Yeah, hang on," Hiroki said before they could hear him let out a grunt. The sound of falling glass, braking on contact, came out of the speakers. Aélita looked over at Jérémie, worried for what had happened at his house. "It's Jérémie," Hiroki said to someone far enough away from the phone to sound like he was passing it to someone.

"Jérémie?" Ulrich's voice asked.

"We're here, what's the damage report?" Jérémie asked, gripping his hands in fists as they rested on the edge of the keyboard.

"Beat up, battered, and bruised, but all in all, A-okay," Ulrich admitted.

"You found the phone!" Béa's voice exclaimed, sounding like she was next to Ulrich.

"You wanna talk to your mom?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah."

"She's already awake?" Aélita mumbled, surprised.

"Jérémie?" Béa's voice asked.

"How are you and Dad?" Jérémie asked.

"He's still knocked out, but your friends say that's normal," Béa admitted. "I'm fine. Feel a bit weird with the gap in my memory, but still fine."

"Then I guess we don't have to do a return to the past, huh?" Odd offered.

"I guess not," Jérémie admitted, glancing at Odd.

"I'll get the plane ready," Grandmére said, pulling out her phone.

AN: Still mad at my past self for not including any Xana attack. I mean, seriously! It's just begging to happen.

ODD: You know, it's a little creepy, someone like you playing with our lives like this.

AN: That's why I write stories. God-like power over my creations! MWAAHHAHAHAHA!

ODD: Is there a door out of this head space?

AN: There are no walls, Odd! You are MINE!

ODD: Help us! You out there, save us from this crazy writer!

AN: Read and review! ^^


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Aélita looked out the plane's window as they headed back to Besançon. The world looked so small below her, zooming passed without knowing she was up in the air.

"Here you go, Odd. Turkey's all I had back there," Grandmére admitted, handing the boy a sandwich wrapped in a paper towel.

"Thanks," Odd said, gladly grabbing the sandwich. He ripped into the wrapper and started eating as Grandmére took the seat next to him.

Grandmére pulled out her phone and started going through something, leaving Aélita to look over at Jérémie. He sat with his head propped up on the palm of his hand, looking out his window.

"Mm, this is good," Odd complimented. "What sauce did you put on it?"

"Honey mustard. Aélita," Grandmére started, looking at her phone as her brows increased. "You remember that friend I have in the DRM? He just mailed me what he could find on your mom. It doesn't make sense."

Aélita stared at the woman across from her for a moment, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, Aélita asked, "What doesn't make sense?"

"Well he's got a document going on about her arrest in '87, how her virtualization process went, I'm sure you'd understand that better than I, a report talking about a list of expensive needed for her while in her imprisonment, and her death certificate, stating she died on August seventh, by cardio arrest," Grandmére said, skimming through what was on her phone. "But the dates don't stop after her death. They stop in '96, the last one being an assault report about her in a fight with an agent." She looked up at the girl, looking directly in Aélita's eyes, and said, "I don't think your mom died in '91."

Aélita took a moment to comprehend what the woman had just said. There was hope? "My mom could still be alive?" Aélita asked, her voice sounding small to herself.

"That's great news," Odd said, finishing his sandwich. "We just have to find her."

"I don't think it'll be that easy," Jérémie said. "If the DRM have her, then she's under the tightest security."

"But why?" Aélita asked, trying to think what her mother could be to national security. "Why her?"

"It could be a number of things, between the work her husband did to things we're not even aware of," Grandmére offered.

"What does that last one say, the one about her in a fight?" Jérémie asked.

Grandmére looked down at her phone and read out, "Anthea L. Hopper is charged with assault with a weapon against an Agent L. Pierre White. The assault occurred while doing a routine check on her cell when Mrs. Hopper supposedly came up from behind him and struck him with a bo."

"Bow, like in bows and arrows?" Odd asked.

"No, I think they mean bo as in a fighting staff," Grandmére offered. She looked over at Odd and asked, "But either way, why give your prisoner a weapon at all?"

"What does the rest of it say?" Aélita asked.

Grandmére looked back at the device in her hand and said, "Just that he was forced to restrain her. A hearing was scheduled for November of that year."

"The report on the hearing must not have been filed until the following year," Jérémie realized. He looked up at the three listening and offered, "That is, assuming the reason for the last date to be ten years ago to be because your friend can't access or can't send anything that recent."

"May I see what he sent you?" Aélita asked, a desperate feeling growing inside her to find out what happened to her mother.

Grandmére quickly swiped down, sending the e-mail back to the top, before handing over the phone.

Aélita took care not to touch the screen, letting herself marvel at the tech that was used to create Grandmére's top of the line cell phone. She turned her focus to the documents on the screen, seeing the first to be a page stating her arrest in '87.

Hopper, Anthea Lynn, address the same as Jérémie's house now, was charged with aiding and abiding a national terrorist and withholding information from the investigation. Arrested January 13, 1987, at the mountain home.

Aélita skimmed through the names of the detectives and police personnel involved to get to the details written at the bottom of the page.

At approximately 1907 hours on January 13th, 1987, the National Police of Besançon were called in to aid in the arrest of Anthea Hopper. Two names that were omitted, blacked out from her copy of the repot, where among those where were there.

January 13, 1987, at approximately 1709 hours they made the arrest with only minor problems caused by Hopper's daughter.

"I tried to stop them," Aélita mumbled. She looked up only to realize she had interrupted the three in a conversation she hadn't been paying attention to.

"Stop who?" Odd asked.

"When they arrested my mom, they mention her daughter," Aélita offered. "It looks like I tried to stop them."

"What could you have done? You were five years old," Grandmére pointed out.

Aélita gave the woman a shrug. "I don't know, but it says 'minor problems caused by Hopper's daughter'," Aélita read.

"Even at five years old, you're trying to kick some butt," Odd said, smiling at the girl.

"Why was she arrested in the first place?" Jérémie asked.

"It says aiding and abiding a national terrorist and withholding information in some investigation," Aélita offered.

"Wait, are they referring to Franz as the terrorist?" Odd asked.

Aélita shook her head, unsure. "It doesn't say."

"Well Franz didn't get commissioned until '88," Jérémie reminded. "I had assumed that was why you moved to Paris, but maybe the commissioning was just formal red tap so that he would work with the government on Xana and Lyoko. Maybe he didn't want the government to use them."

"With good reason," Grandmére nodded her head. "Xana's bad enough on his own, I'd hate to see what would happen if he was weaponized."

"Then that would make sense for why Anthea was used as a test subject for the scanners," Jérémie said, his eyes wide at his own realization. "The government must've been holding her as a way to force Franz to agree to give his ideas and work."

"But why say she's dead when she wasn't?" Aélita asked.

"Sadly, it could be to torment him," Grandmére admitted. The three teens looked at her, getting her to hold her hands up in defense. "Wrong, I know, but it has happened before. It's their way of showing how much power they have over him and of making him feel as if he killed his own wife. Though since they kept her alive for six years at least, fifteen hopefully, they must still need her."

Odd scratched his head as he asked, "Then how would we go about finding where they're keeping her?"

"It wouldn't be quite that simple," Grandmére pointed out.

Aélita looked back at the phone in her hand, making a point to keep her ears to their conversation this time. She skipped through the document about her mother signing an agreement and stopped at a page of information very familiar to her. Anthea's virtualization report. The document that can be pulled up after any attempt to go to Lyoko.

"Well, if they're holding her in some sort of prison, they would have to have some sort of record of her," Jérémie pointed out. "If I start going through prison databases, I could make a program to run through the names of anything resembling hers."

"Maybe you should get your mother's help on that," Grandmére said apprehensively.

Aélita skimmed through the data the supercomputer saved back in August of 1991, the beginning adding up right for her mother to stand at five'four. It saved her molecules in a digital envelop, like it should, but then the data changed. A termination sequence was started up, as if the supercomputer had lost her. But it wasn't the termination sequence if the person was sent to limbo or if the envelop had been damaged. It looked like the envelop with all her data had just disappeared.

"Jérémie," Aélita said, stopping him from defending himself from Grandmére. Aélita leaned over to hand him the phone as she asked, "Go over the virtualization process data. What does it look like to you?"

Jérémie took the phone and quickly ran his eyes over what was there. His eyes froze on a section of data, as if he was re-reading it. "It looks like she was… removed," Jérémie admitted. He looked over at Aélita and added, "Like she was scanned into a removable drive without Franz knowing."

"That's what it looked like to me, too," Aélita nodded her head.

"What, like they put her on a flash drive?" Odd asked.

"Basically, yeah," Aélita nodded her head as Jérémie looked over the document.

"Then she wouldn't be kept in a normal prison," Grandmére said, understanding what had happened. "Jérémie, do you know what happened to the blue prints for Lyoko and the supercomputer?"

"There's a copy in the lab, but I've never seen the originals," Jérémie admitted, his eyes still on the phone.

"So the government could've built their own version of Lyoko," Grandmére admitted. She turned her attention to Aélita and said, "And that would explain why they were happy just leaving you and your father in the deactivated supercomputer."

"They just never figured on a curious techno-geek to turn it back on years later," Odd said, giving Jérémie a smile.

Jérémie looked up from the phone and admitted, "But now we're looking for a supercomputer that may or not be connected to one of Xana's replicas."

"Well, at least we have your family to help now, Einstein," Odd offered.

"I'm gonna need all the help I can get," Jérémie admitted, looking at Grandmére.

"Count me in," Grandmére said with a nod of her head.

AN: That had always bugged me as a kid, why the government agents had turned off the supercomputer just to leave it under an old car factory. Why not just kill Franz and Aélita when you had the chance? Why chase them to the factory and then turn it off? Because they already had what they needed. Now they just needed to get rid of them. Franz had already sent them to Lyoko, all they needed to do was turn off the supercomputer. It's an old factory, not being used anymore. Someone's bound to come up with a better use for the land and then it will be torn down and something else built in its place (RIP the real factory). Actually that was a story plot used in the comic, of where someone wanted to tear down the factory. If I understood what I read a while back, those comic stories were ideas, be it A stories or B stories, that didn't make it to the actual show. That one I wish had made it. It showed what would happen to Aélita if she was forcibly devirtualized during season 2.

ODD: we have a comic?

AN: Yeah, a few. You can find them on the page. Yes, they have an English site. I love how they have it so you can change between the two languages. Jim looks great! Though it does make me wonder, where was Jim born?

ODD: what do you mean?

AN: Well, he was both in the Canadian and United States armies, so he lived over here in the Americas for a while.

ODD: You don't actually believe those stories he tells, do you?

AN: Things just don't add up with him. I wish we knew more about him really. Just take his name, James Morales. Sure the French give him an accent on his last name to be Moralés, but that's so you actually can pronounce it right. It's an English name. Add that to how many times he's found out about Lyoko, his physic verses how much stamina and strength he's got. I'm starting to wonder if he took the job at Kadic as a way to escape something, run away from something or someone. He's got a past that's more colorful then just what we've heard about, I'm sure about it.

ODD: You're getting into theory territory now.

AN: That's where my best ideas come from.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Aélita dropped onto her bed a little harder then she had meant to. It felt like it had been a really long day and all she wanted to do was stay in the flopped position she had fallen in. Until she realized the first person to walk into the bedroom would be able to see her underwear. Telling herself she needed to move, she laid staring up at the ceiling. The slopping wall made contact with the ceiling a bit passed where her head was now, a cut out making space for the window. At the sound of footsteps in the hall, she forced herself into a sitting position and checked the helm of her night gown.

"Aélita?" Michel asked, getting her attention to the man standing in the doorway. "Has all the cots in here been sat on?"

'Uh, I think so," Aélita said, truly not sure.

"Crud," Michel cursed under his breath, looking back down the hall.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

Michel turned back to her and admitted, "There was a reason for why, when the family was here, we only had nine cots set up and I had forgot. The tenth one's broken but I don't know who ended up with it."

"Sounds like cot lottery tonight," Aélita said, a smile on her face.

"Cot lottery?" Michel let out a laugh. "Yeah, as long as Mr. Stern or Mom doesn't end up with it."

"I'll let them know when they get back in here," Aélita offered.

"Thanks," Michel said before walking away, passing Ulrich as he came into the room.

Ulrich tossed his cloths under his bed as he asked, "What was that about cot lottery?"

Kiwi's scampering paws on the hardwood floor alerted Aélita of Odd walking back into the room as she explained, "There's a missing broken cot."

"I heard when he was telling Adele and Pauline," Odd admitted, pulling the cloths off his bed to make a space for himself.

"I hope my dad didn't end up with it," Ulrich admitted.

"Mr. Belpois said the same," Aélita said with a smile. She turned to the door as Jérémie and Yumi walked in, Yumi letting out a laugh as Jérémie just gave her an embarrassed smile.

"What'd we miss?" Odd asked, putting Kiwi up on his bed.

"I made the mistake of asking what he'd gotten for Christmas," Yumi admitted, a smile still on her face as she walked over to Aélita and knelt down to put her cloths away. She turned to look over at Jérémie, "I didn't mean to laugh, it's not even all that funny."

"It's just all the stress we've been through today," Jérémie said with a shrug as he sat down on his bed.

"Well we all need a stupid laugh, what was it?" Ulrich asked.

"Grandmére has a tradition of getting everyone in the family underwear as a present and Aélita got included in the everyone," Jérémie offered, his cheeks turning red.

"Mrs. Myriam trying to make you a Belpois already?" Odd asked, laughter in his voice.

Aélita gave him a shrug, it not sounding like a bad idea to her. One day she would be happy to be a Belpois.

"Then I'm guessing you haven't been sleep talking anymore, huh?" Ulrich asked, throwing his thumb over to the far corner of the room as Yumi got to her feet.

"What? No!" Jérémie said quickly.

"Sleep talk? I didn't know you talked in your sleep," Aélita said, curious as to what he might have to say in his dreams.

"Great, so between Jérémie talking and Odd's snoring, we'll never get any sleep," Yumi said, leaning a hand against the cot.

"It's not _that_ loud," Odd defended.

"Yes, it is, Odd," Ulrich said.

"It woke me up!" Yumi exclaimed.

"When?" Odd asked.

"When we were swapped," Yumi reminded. "Every time I started going to sleep," she let out a loud snoring sound, making Aélita let out a laugh. "You sound like a cow!"

"I don't sound like a cow," Odd mumbled.

"Knock knock, kids. Time for bed," Béa said as she poked her head in the doorway. "Try and get some sleep, tomorrow we're planning on everyone getting out for some fun. Oh, and if anyone ends up finding the broken cot, Michel owes them breakfast in the morning."

"Now that's a loto I can get behind," Odd said.

As she turned to leave, Aélita called out, "Night Mrs. Belpois," in a chorus of similar sounds from her friends. She turned to Yumi and said, "I've gotten used to the edge, you can have the wall."

"Okay, oh, I've gotta warn you. I have a habit of stretching out in my sleep," Yumi said, pulling back the blankets.

"Just don't kick me out and we'll be fine," Aélita said, smiling.

Aélita waited for Yumi to into the cot before getting into the cot herself, wrapping herself in the blankets.

"Everybody good?" Odd asked, shutting the door.

"Yeah," Ulrich said.

Odd clicked the lights off, leaving Aélita's eyes to try and adjust to the dark as she tried to watch him get into bed.

"Oh, you want Mr. Pück?" Yumi asked, passing the doll over.

Aélita grabbed for the doll, feeling his feet, only to hear a loud crash from where Odd's bed was. Quickly she sat up as Jérémie clicked on his lamp to see Odd's cot had fallen, head end to the ground with him still in it. He laid, one hand holding onto Kiwi while the other held onto his blankets, frozen for a moment.

"Odd! Are you okay?" Yumi exclaimed as she sat up.

He looked over at them as a smile started to pull at his cheeks. "Well, it looks like I won the cot loto," he said, laughing as he let go of Kiwi so he could roll himself out of what had become of his bed.

Aélita found herself laughing, hearing a similar sound from around the room.

"Is everybody okay?" Carole asked as the woman jerked open the door.

Aélita looked up at her, seeing Ulrich's mother dressed in a set of silk pajamas, and tried to curb her laughter.

"I, uh, found the broken cot," Odd said, his laughter still evident as he sat on the floor beside his lopsided cot.

Carole gave him a smile as more of the adults appeared behind her. Her smile quickly turned into a laugh, getting Aélita to laugh again.

AN: The end of a stressful day, everyone needs a laugh.

ODD: That's why I'm here.

AN: At least you get a big breakfast out of it all.

ODD: Not complaining about that.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Aélita opened her eyes to find herself looking over at Odd's sleeping form, his blanket no longer covering him as he laid on the folded up cot on the floor. A pain in her stomach reminded her of what woke up her, getting her to turn over in the small space so she laid facing upward. She rested Mr. Pück on her chest, feeling Yumi's arm reaching up just above her head.

Her mind went through what she expected them to have to do that day, mostly trying to repair what Xana had damaged. She thought back to how the ground floor had looked when she had returned with Jérémie, Odd, and Grandmére. The entertainment system had taken its share of the beating, the screen even punched out of the TV. The recliner had been turned over and in the wall behind the sofa there was an indent of what could have been someone trying to go through the dry wall. The family room had the worst damage, in Aélita option. The Christmas tree had gotten beat up in the fight, breaking a few of the ornaments, and the piano looked to have gotten electrocuted.

Somehow only those two rooms had any damage, everyone working together to prevent Michel and Béa from causing too much destruction. They had all worked together to fix up what they could that afternoon, putting the TV out in the trash and helping clearing up the decorations that had broken beyond repair. Today she expected someone would have to go out and get something to fix the hole in the dry wall. She'd see if she could help with the piano, once everyone was awake.

Aélita cringed as her stomach flipped inside her. A part of her knew she was sick. She rested the back of her hand on her forehead, feeling it hot, but instead of wanting the blankets off she wanted more on her.

Yumi shifted, catching Aélita's attention as the girl moved out from under the blankets. She knew Yumi was feeling Aélita's fever. She knew she should get out of the bed at least, to prevent Yumi from catching whatever she had caught. But her body refused to listen to her. She didn't feel like she had the energy to get up. Aélita tried to recall a time when she had gotten sick before but she couldn't.

Her stomach sent her another spasm, getting her to slowly roll herself out from under the blankets. She carefully sat up as a shiver went through-out her. She felt like she was going to freeze. Aélita turned to look at the clock on Jérémie's nightstand to read it was just past six. _No wonder it was still a bit dark_ , Aélita thought to herself. She got to her feet, still clutching Mr. Pück, and carefully walked out of the room. She remembered about the squeak in the door and squeezed herself out, shutting the door quietly behind her. She made her way down the stairs and into the living room, the space the TV had been now empty.

Aélita pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around herself as she sat down. She had to be sick. She felt terrible. She pulled her legs up under herself, her socks not even feeling like they were even there.

"Aélita?"

Aélita looked up at the sound of her name to see Béa turning from the stairs as she tied her robe around her waist.

"Are you okay?"

Aélita opened her mouth, getting ready to lie to the woman, but nothing would come to mind.

Béa walked over and sat in the seat beside her, brushing Aélita's bangs up to place a hand on her forehead. "Aélita, you're burning up!" Béa exclaimed in a hushed voice. She took her hand off Aélita's forehead and stood up, walking back to the stairs.

Aélita could make out her footsteps going to the bathroom upstairs before coming back down with a thermometer in hand.

Béa pushed the button on the small device, waiting for a beep, as she sat back down in the seat beside Aélita. "Come on, open up," Béa ordered, pointing the metal end at the girl's mouth.

Aélita did as ordered, the thermometer uncomfortable under her tongue.

Béa held the thermometer in place as Aélita struggled to keep her head still. Finally the little device gave off a beep, letting Aélita release the thermometer. Béa looked at the screen as Aélita laid her head against the back of the sofa, closing her eyes. "Yap, you've got a fever."

"Ugh," Aélita let out.

"This hasn't exactly been the best vacation for you, huh?" Béa asked, resting a hand on Aélita's knee.

Keeping her eyes closed, Aélita said, "I still wouldn't trade it."

Béa squeezed Aélita's knee before releasing her and getting to her feet.

"Aélita? Is something wrong?"

Aélita opened her eyes to see Jérémie passing his mother as he walked into the living room and she left, worry on his face.

"She's just got a bit of a fever," Béa offered in a whisper.

Aélita leaned back against the back of the sofa, a shiver going through-out her. The sofa moved as a body sat down next to her. She felt a hand brush through her bangs, a small smile pulled at her face.

"How do you feel?" Jérémie asked, his voice alerting her that he had indeed sat beside her.

"Cold," Aélita stated. Her stomach gave another twinge, reminding her it was still there. "And my stomach feels terrible." She remembered what Béa had said last night, as she was telling them all good night and cursed herself. "Tell your mom everyone still needs to do something fun today," she said, her mind starting to fog as sleep tried to take over.

"That's up to them," Jérémie said, running a hand through her hair.

"And you too," Aélita tried to add.

"Big breakfast, here I come!" Odd's voice exclaimed, getting Aélita's attention. She wanted to turn and look but couldn't find the energy to move from the curled position she had claimed on the sofa. She assumed she had fallen asleep, Jérémie no longer close enough for her to sense him. "Huh? Aélita? Are you okay?"

"Shush," Béa's voice ordered, coming from the kitchen doorway. "She got sick in the night."

"Sick?" Ulrich asked, his voice coming from beside Odd.

"I think she caught a stomach virus," Béa offered.

Aélita heard the three move into the kitchen, their voices only pitches of sound to Aélita's ears now. A hand on her shoulder got her to open her eyes and look up to see Jérémie dressed for the day.

"Come on, let's get you back in bed," Jérémie said, a gentle smile on his face.

Aélita pulled her legs out from under her and forced herself up to her feet. She clutched Mr. Pück tightly, the blankets tangled at her fingers, as Jérémie put his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry," Aélita mumbled as she let him lead her up the stairs.

"Why?"

"For ruining the day," Aélita said, the best she could get to how she felt.

"You've just caught a little bug," Jérémie said, leading her into his bedroom. Aélita started to go back to the cot she and Yumi had slept in when Jérémie steered her to his bed. "Take mine. A real bed'll be better for you."

"But I don't wanna get you sick," Aélita tried.

"I've gotta strong constitution. I'll be fine," Jérémie said, pulling back the blankets. "Come on."

Aélita sat down on the bed, a small part of her reminding her she was going to be in Jérémie's bed. She laid down as Jérémie walked over to her cot and pulled off the blanket he had given her as a Christmas present. He walked back and laid it at her feet as he pulled up the blankets already on the bed to her shoulders. He laid out her new blanket over top the comforter, making sure it didn't go above Aélita's chin.

"Do you want Mrs. Pück too?" Jérémie asked, just noticing the doll still in the window.

"Please?" Aélita shrunk herself into the blankets. She felt bad about making Jérémie do all of this for her as she watched him go over and pick up the doll.

Jérémie pulled the blankets back so he could put Mrs. Pück under the blankets next to her and smiled at Aélita. "There. Anything else?"

Aélita wanted to say 'you' but held her tongue. She shook her head, quickly saying, "Thank you."

"Can I come in?" Yumi's voice asked, getting Aélita to turn her head towards the door. Without waiting for a verbal acceptance, she walked into the room with a glass of milk and a plate holding a slice of bread. "Mrs. Belpois thought you could use a light breakfast."

The sight of food turned her stomach as she watched Yumi sit the glass and plate on the nightstand. Yumi looked over at Aélita, a smile pulling at her cheeks. "You may not feel like eating, but you need to keep your strength up to fight it."

"Thanks, Yumi," Aélita offered, pushing herself up so she was sitting up. She moved both of the dolls so they were on the wall side of her and picked up the plate, hoping she wouldn't get crumbs in Jérémie's bed.

"I better get back down there," Yumi said, looking at Jérémie. "Your dad should never have offered whoever got the broken cot a big breakfast. Odd's got French toast, bacon, eggs, and grits, whatever that last one is."

"It's made from corn. It's from the states, I think from the south?" Jérémie offered, sounding unsure. "A'nt Jane and George like them."

"Okay," Yumi shrugged. "Don't forget to get yourself some breakfast."

"Don't worry," Jérémie said as the girl left the room. He turned back to Aélita, seeing she hadn't taken a bite yet. "Try to eat," Jérémie said. He opened his mouth to stay something more only to debate about it before asking, "Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" Aélita said quickly before adding, "At least… stay while I eat, please?"

Jérémie smiled as he sat down at the foot of the bed. "Okay."

Aélita picked up the piece of bread only for a twinge of pain to appear in her chest, taking her off guard. She put a palm in-between her breasts to push at the pain, mad at herself for being so helpless right now.

"Oh, your ibuprofen," Jérémie realized, quickly standing up. He rushed out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "I'll be right back."

Aélita took her hand away from her chest and looked back at the bread, knowing Jérémie still wanted her to eat and if she was to take the ibuprofen she needed food in her. She forced herself to take a bite of the slice of bread, her stomach rolling at the idea of having anything in it. By the time she was swallowing, Jérémie was rushing back into his room, a pill bottle in his hand. He stopped next to her in bed and shook a pill out, placing the bottle next to her glass of milk. She took the pill from him, saying, "Thank you, for taking care of me."

"Aw, you know I don't mind," Jérémie offered, sitting back down on the edge of his bed.

Aélita reached over and grabbed the milk Yumi had brought her and downed the pill. She sat down the glass and asked, "What is everybody doing today?"

"I know what Mom was planning on doing has gotten postponed," Jérémie started.

"Not because of me?" Aélita asked, distracted out of taking a bite. She forced herself to go ahead and eat the slice of bread as Jérémie shook his head.

"Mom wants you to be there, hopefully you'll be better before the end of break and we can still go," Jérémie said. "For now, Yumi's mom offered to help Dad fix the hole in the dry wall, Ulrich's dad said something about helping fix the ornaments that had gotten broken, and I think I'm gonna try and see what I can find out about where your mom is."

Aélita swallowed the last of the bread slice and smiled at Jérémie. She reached for her milk as she said, "To think, she might still be alive."

"I hope, one day, you'll have your family back," Jérémie offered.

"Then our Christmas will really have a lot of people," Aélita said, thinking of having both Jérémie's family and her own all together as she took a sip of her milk.

A meow got their attention as Manchot jumped onto the bed, over the foot board. Her little black nose twitched as she held her mouth open to take in a scent. She pointedly meowed again at Aélita before making her way to a spot next to the two dolls and curled up, resting her muzzle on her paws.

"I think she wants to take care of you too," Jérémie offered.

Aélita ran a hand over Manchot's head and down her back, the cat giving her comfort as she started to purr. Aélita froze, her hand staying at the base of Manchot's tail, as her stomach did a quick flop. "Oh no," Aélita mumbled, some instinct telling her to get up now. She quickly put the glass back on the night stand and got up, smacking blankets at Jérémie in her hast. She heard him exclaim something but was already out of the room by then. She ran straight for the bathroom and lifted the toilet lid just in time to see what had been her breakfast again. She braced her palms on the toilet seat as the white mix of liquids and solids made its way forcibly into the bowl.

The mix stopped escaping her, leaving her coughing as she dropped to her knees. She felt a hand rubbing her back only to feel a wave of embarrassment come over her at how Jérémie was seeing her. She let out another cough, finding herself dry heaving now that her stomach had emptied itself. Something trickled down her chin, getting her to reach a hand to the toilet paper.

"Here," Jérémie offered, reaching down to give her a folded pad of toilet paper he had already gotten for her.

"Thanks," Aélita croaked out, her voice feeling horse, as she grabbed the pad to wipe her mouth. She threw the paper into the toilet and pushed herself up to her feet only to have to pause, leaning with her hands still on the toilet seat, as the world took a spin for a moment.

"Careful!" Jérémie exclaimed, grabbing her with a hand on each of her hips as she realized she had started tipping towards the sink.

Aélita closed her eyes, trying to regain her balance. "Ugh, I hate this," she muttered. It felt like she had just come out of the pool after being in water for half of the day. She opened her eyes and let go of the toilet seat, standing up so she could put the toilet lid down and flush her breakfast away. Only then did she feel Jérémie release her.

Aélita turned to the sink to wash her hands and mouth, when Akiko poked her head in the door.

"Fell any better, Aélita?" Akiko asked.

Aélita took her cupped hands and caught some water before splashing it up at her face. Without looking at Yumi's mom, she said, "A bit."

"Here, take some Pepto and get some rest," Akiko said, handing Jérémie the pink bottle. "You're doing a great job trying to take care of her."

"Thanks," Jérémie replied as the woman walked away from the bathroom.

Aélita grabbed a small washcloth sitting beside the sink, not caring if it had been someone's or not, to dry her face off. She put it back on the counter and leaned against it for a moment, closing her eyes. She felt Jérémie rubbing her back again and turned to look at him. "I hate being sick," she said simply.

Jérémie let out a laugh. "I think everybody does," Jérémie offered. He took his hand off of Aélita's back and opened the Pepto bottle, sitting the cup it came with on the counter. He poured out what she needed and handed her the measured out dosage. "Here. This should help."

Aélita took hold of it, keeping a hand on the counter. She put it close to her lips only to pull a face at the close to, but not quite, peppermint smell. Closing her eyes, she quickly downed the medicine, forcing herself to swallow before letting out a "bleck."

"The worst it tastes, the more likely it'll actually work," Jérémie said, taking the cup out of her hand. He reached in front of her to rinse it out and sat it on the counter next to the bottle as he added, "At least, that's what Mom would tell me when I was a kid."

Aélita realized she wanted to see Jérémie when he was a kid, though all the pictures out in the family and living rooms were rather currant.

"Come on, let's get you back in bed," Jérémie said, putting an arm around Aélita's shoulders to steer her out of the bathroom.

Aélita leaned against his shoulder as she walked beside him, a mix of feeling weak and just wanting to be close to him being her excuses. She let Jérémie lead her to his bed and waited while he straightened the blankets, Manchot having to make a new nest for herself. Once Jérémie was done, she crawled into bed and looked up at him. She could feel exhaustion taking over and, as her eyes closed, she tried to say, "I love you, Jérémie." She thought she felt something touch her forehead but didn't know what as the darkness enfolded her.

AN: Sorry, Aélita, but I still wanted you to get sick.

AÉLITA: It's not fun.

AN: But Jérémie taking care of you is so cute! ^^

AÉLITA: True. He is cute.

JÉRÉMIE: *poking his head into the room* Did I hear my name?

AN: Nothing Jérémie.

JÉRÉMIE: Uh, okay… *retreating back away from the room*


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

A few times Aélita remembered waking up through-out the day. The first she had noticed Jérémie working at his desktop, his laptop running a program she thought she should know but lost consciousness just as she was trying to recall what it was. After that, every time she would awake she would have the room to herself but she would never be awake long enough to wonder more about where everyone was.

She awoke once again, this time opening her eyes to see Manchot had left her. She turned over in the bed to look at the clock on Jérémie's nightstand to see it was already five in the afternoon. She sat up and took a deep breath, feeling strangely renewed and hot. She pushed off the layers of blankets, counting Jérémie's normal three along with the sofa throw and her blanket, and got out of bed.

Aélita walked out of Jérémie's room and listened for noise that might let her know what everyone was doing. For a house with two animals and seventeen people, counting herself, it was awfully quiet. The sounds of rapid key strokes got her attention down to Jérémie's parents' room. Poking her head in the room, she found Jérémie and Béa sitting on the large bed, both working away at laptops corded to a desktop sitting on the floor. Sitting on a pillow at the desktop was Grandmére, holding a keyboard on her lap to type occasionally. Aélita smiled at the sight of the three Belpois' working on computers. Curiosity got the better of her, getting her to walk over so she could look at Jérémie's laptop, looking over his shoulder. On his screen was a line of code he was typing in. Aélita skimmed over what she could see, surprised to see variations of her mother's name as what the program was to look for. Wanting to help find her Momma, she asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Jérémie let out a startled sound, almost flipping his laptop out of his lap, as he turned to Aélita. "Aélita!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," Aélita tried, letting out a laugh as a smile took over her face.

"How are you feeling?" Jérémie asked as Béa got up from where she sat on the bed.

"Hungry, honestly," Aélita admitted. She noticed Béa go into her bathroom and walk back out with the thermometer in hand.

"That's a good sign," Béa said, stopping next to Aélita. She pushed the button on the thermometer to turn it on and waited for it to beep again before pointing it at Aélita.

Aélita opened her mouth and received the metal end under her tongue again, standing still while it worked.

"I don't think there's much left to do," Grandmére admitted, looking up from where she sat on the floor. "Once Jérémie and Béa get done with their programs, we're gonna send them out through the network Lyoko's connected to. If it finds anything remotely like your mom, it'll let us know."

The thermometer let out a beep, getting Aélita to open her mouth so Béa could look at the readout.

"If she's in one of those, we could be able to free her using the empty Nav-Skid," Aélita realized, hope building up inside her.

"Hopefully," Jérémie said, nodding his head.

"Thirty-seven point nine, still a little high but better then you were this morning," Béa said. She walked back to the bathroom to clean the thermometer, letting Aélita turn back to Jérémie's work.

"Have you found her maiden name?" Aélita asked, sitting beside him on her heals. She was already wishing she had changed cloths, at least her normal dresses were longer then this nightgown.

"As far as we could find out, she's always had that name," Jérémie offered, turning back to the code he was working on. His hands froze over top the keyboard as he added, "Oh, and we think we might've found her parents."

"Momma's parents?" Aélita asked, it dawning on her that that would mean her grandparents.

Jérémie quickly pulled up another window he had opened and turned the laptop so she could read it easier.

Robert Alfred Hopper, 71, died July 14, 2004. A native of Besançon, a loving husband, father and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Angela Ann Hopper only.

"Here's the record of where he's buried," Jérémie said, changing windows. "He's at the Cemetery of Saint Frejeux, here in Besançon."

"But that would mean Daddy was also a Hopper or had changed his name," Aélita said, her mind still working on the information he gave her first.

"I'd bet he changed his name," Béa offered, sitting back down at her laptop. "We found their marriage certificate, it read that they both had the last name Hopper but it had been doctored. Best guess I have is someone was already looking for him."

"Is Angela Hopper still alive?" Aélita asked.

"Yeah, she's in a nursing home in the city," Jérémie said, flipping through windows before the one he was looking for appeared. "The House of Age and Life in Pouilley-les-Vignes, though I don't know about her condition." He looked up at her and admitted, "That type of document is a little hard to hack into."

"Maybe after New Year's we can go over and give her a visit," Béa offered.

"I'd like that," Aélita nodded her head.

Without saying another word, Jérémie went back to the code he had been working on and added the last few lines before sending it over to Grandmére's desktop on the floor.

"Thank you, Jérémie," Grandmére said, typing away at her keyboard. "Let's get this thing working."

"If we're lucky, it'll find her," Jérémie said, turning to Aélita.

Aélita was about to say something when her stomach beat her to it, growling loudly.

"Come on," Jérémie said with a laugh as he closed his laptop. Sitting it down in front of him, he got off the bed and offered, "Let's go down stairs and get you some food."

"We'll let you know if the program finds anything," Grandmére offered as Aélita got to her feet.

"Thank you," Aélita said before following Jérémie out of the room. "Hang on." Jérémie stopped at the stair landing and turned to her as she walked passed him. "Let me at least get dressed."

She saw Jérémie open his mouth, as if to say something, only to close it again.

Aélita rushed into the room, closing the door behind her, and pulled out some clean cloths. Glancing at the door again, to make sure Jérémie hadn't followed her, she changed cloths and left her night gown on her bed. She remembered her dolls were still in Jérémie's bed but decided against retrieving them now, not wanting Jérémie to have to wait too long for her. Aélita walked out of Jérémie's room and found him where she had left him.

"That was quick," Jérémie commented.

Not sure how to answer that, she was glad when her stomach called out once more. She gave him an embarrassed smile as she said, "I'm starting to sound like Odd."

Jérémie let out a laugh, letting her walk down the stairs first. "We _have_ hung out with him too long."

Aélita made it down the stairs, still noticing how quiet the house was, and turned to go through the living room. "The hole's been fixed," she stated, the first thing she noticed. She turned to look at the entertainment system as they passed it and added, "And you've already gotten a new TV."

"Everyone was pretty busy earlier," Jérémie admitted.

"So where is everybody?" Aélita asked as she turned into the kitchen.

"They went out for a late lunch/early dinner meal," Jérémie explained. He rushed passed her and pulled out a chair from the table. He looked at her and motioned for her to sit.

Aélita smiled, glancing at the ceiling as she let out a silent snort. "I'm not helpless anymore."

"No, but you still have a fever," Jérémie pointed out.

Aélita took the given chair and sat down, saying, "I'm sorry about this morning. All that must've been rough on you."

Jérémie turned to the cabinet and pulled out a glass, filling it up with water. "I didn't mind," Jérémie admitted as he sat the glass in front of her. He gave her a soft smile as he added, "I liked taking care of you."

"Even when I was throwing up?" Aélita asked, leaning her head on the palm of her hand to rest on the table.

"Even when you were throwing up," Jérémie nodded his head as he rested against the back of the chair next to Aélita. He looked like he wanted to do something when he seemed to have changed his mind and stood straight. "So what do you feel like eating?"

"I guess I should stick to something light still," Aélita realized. "What cereal do you have?"

Jérémie let go of the chair and turned to the pantry, pulling open the duel doors before leaning down to read out, "Trésor, Milo, Mom's Fitness with strawberries, and Frosties."

"Frosties," Aélita said. "Sugar still doesn't sound good."

Jérémie pulled out the blue box and closed the pantry, sitting the box on the table so that Aélita was looking at the tiger on the box. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out two bowls, quickly grabbing two spoons out of the drawer below it. He sat them on the table, putting a bowl and spoon before Aélita and the extra in front of the seat beside her, and turned back to the cabinet to grab a glass for himself.

Aélita picked up the box and poured out a small bowl of flakes, not totally trusting her stomach to keep anything down. As she put the box down, Jérémie sat down with the pitcher of milk, placing it behind her water glass.

"Why didn't you go with everyone else to get something to eat?" Aélita asked, realizing he must be hungry to be eating with her so early before dinner time. She grabbed the milk and poured it in her bowl, watching Jérémie out of the corner of her eyes.

Jérémie poured the cereal in his bowl as he admitted, "I wanted to be here when you woke up." He sat the box on the table to take the milk now that Aélita was done with it and added, "Plus, we kinda lost track of time working."

Aélita mixed her cereal, trying to get the top cereal in the milk as well as she let out a laugh. "How many times have I heard that?"

"It's not _that_ bad," Jérémie defended.

"How many times has someone had to come to your room to remind you to eat?" Aélita pointed out before eating a spoonful.

"That's what I have snacks."

"How about when you have to do your laundry before you can even change?"

"That's an hour and a half I have to take out of my day!" Jérémie exclaimed. "And normally it's when I need my desktop."

Aélita let out a laugh, covering her mouth to keep the food there. The things she had pointed out that should be annoying just made her realize how much she really did love him. "Well, if you need me to, I can wash your cloths when I do mine," she offered, looking back down at her bowl as a smile stayed on her lips.

"Uh, no, I should do it," Jérémie said, looking down at his own bowl.

Aélita glanced over and saw how red his cheeks were. Thinking she knew why he was embarrassed she tilted her head and said, "I've already seen your underwear."

"Huh!?" Jérémie exclaimed, turning look at her, showing his whole face had turned red. She guessed he realized she was talking about Grandmére's present as some of the blushing dissipated, him shaking his head. "Still, it's my cloths. I should wash them."

Aélita found herself liking it when Jérémie blushed, thinking it made him cuter.

The front door opened, catching their attentions as pairs of footsteps walked towards the kitchen. They turned around to look in the living room just as Carole and Marguerite walked into the room with grocery bags in hand.

"You're up," Carole said, surprised as the two walked in.

"How are you feeling Aélita?" Marguerite asked, sitting her bags on the opposite side of the kitchen table.

"Better, thank you," Aélita said before eating what was on her spoon.

Odd, Adele, and Pauline walked into the kitchen, all caring more grocery bags, as Jérémie explained, "She's still got a bit of a fever, but not as bad as this morning."

"It was bound to happen with so many people crammed into one house," Pauline said, sitting her bag on the table.

"Maybe we should move into the dining room," Aélita said as Robert and Bruno came in carrying more bags. She stood up and grabbed her glass and bowl, pushing her chair back under the table with her foot before walking out of the kitchen to sit at the dining room table. A moment later and Jérémie was sitting beside her.

AN: For those of us who don't use Celsius, 37.9 is about 100 Fahrenheit. Normally bodies run about 37C or 98F to give a range of where she is verses where she should be. Also for any trekies out there who notice the name of Aélita's grandparents, yes. That's half of where I took their names from. In Balance of Terror, Kirk is preforming the marriage between Robert Tomlinson and Angela Martine on the Enterprise. Spoiler, in that episode, Robert dies. But the other half of where I took their names from is actually my own parents. They both are Star Trek fans and Mom would say she took that episode as a sign that they should be together. Yeah… Until my mom went psyco after having me. Never take signs from old TV shows.

ODD: So are you like a nerd on many levels with TV shows?

LINK: Not just TV shows.

AN: Oh yeah, I do need to finish your last story of your trilogy, don't I?


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Aélita sat on the sofa in the living room, trying to see what all the adults were doing in the kitchen but didn't want to get under foot. She glanced at the recliner, thinking if she sat there, she might be able to see more of what was going on but an apprehensive feeling came over her. Even though the chair wasn't Jay's, it made her think of the man, leading her thoughts back to the old pink chair in the attic. She felt her heart beating faster as her mind replayed the event without her wanting to.

"Aélita, can we talk to you?" Pauline's voice asked, bringing Aélita's mind back to the living room. She looked up to see both of Odd's sisters and Yumi, all three looking rather serious. "Uh, girl talk, I mean."

"Uh, sure," Aélita said, not sure what this might entail.

"In our room," Adele added, throwing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Okay," Aélita said apprehensively as she stood up. She followed the sisters up the stairs with Yumi beside her. She gave her friend a look, hoping to find out what this might be about. Yumi flashed her a look, giving her a partial smile that told her nothing. Aélita followed the sisters into the room she had slept in only a couple of nights and leaned against the dresser as Yumi closed the door.

Adele and Pauline sat down on the cot they shared as Yumi walked over to the guest bed, sitting down. "Come here, sit down," Yumi offered, patting the spot next to her.

Aélita did as asked, still wondering why she needed to have a girl talk with Odd's sisters.

"We're just worried about you," Pauline started off with. "Mrs. Myriam told us that Jay tried to…" her voice fell away as if she was debating on how to word it.

"Aélita, you're still a blooming girl," Adele offered, getting Aélita to turn to her. "We just wanna make sure he didn't damage you or your future."

"Damage?" Aélita echoed, not following what they were trying to get at.

"What did Jay do to you?" Yumi asked.

Aélita looked at Yumi, realizing all three knew was that Jay had attempted to rape her but maybe not how he had gone about it. "Oh, all he ended up doing was…" she looked for the best word, "rough-housed with my breasts," she offered, bringing up a hand to rest it on her chest. "Jérémie stopped him from doing anything more."

"Jérémie?" Adele exclaimed.

"So he didn't whip out his eel?" Pauline asked,

"His eel?" Aélita echoed only for it to dawn on her what the girl meant. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. She let out a forced laugh, "That would've really scarred me."

" _Jérémie_ saved you?" Adele asked. "The same Jérémie we kidnapped you from while he was in the bathroom?"

Aélita nodded her head.

Pauline eyed her purple haired sister, getting Adele to say, "I know they all fight, but he doesn't fit the "duke 'em" image."

"I'm just glad you're okay," Yumi said, squeezing Aélita in a side hug. "Odd and Ulrich were even asking us to make sure."

"You know when the guys are worried," Adele said, leaving her statement out for interpretation.

"I know I'm lucky when it comes to who my friends are," Aélita offered, giving a glance at Yumi as she smiled.

"Well how many groups of friends can say they would risk their lives for one another and actually have a chance to prove it?" Adele asked, her eyes wide.

"Hopefully not many," Yumi offered.

"Sorry 'bout kidnapping you," Pauline offered, getting to her feet.

"It's okay, though Jérémie's probably wondering what happened to me," Aélita said with a smile as she stood up.

"As long as he doesn't think you've turned invisible again," Yumi said, following Aélita as they walked over to the door.

"You turned invisible?" Adele asked, the two sisters walking behind them as the four left the room.

"Xana did it," Aélita said, shaking her head. "That was not fun."

"I'm sure you've got some stories you could tell," Pauline said as they all walked down the stars.

"It's still weird to think how many people know now," Yumi admitted.

"It's better this way," Pauline said. "You've got support at least. Help when you need it."

"Come on, Odd," Jérémie whined, getting Aélita's curiosity as she stepped down from the last step and turned into the living room. Odd sat beside the entertainment system where a shelf sat full of tapes, one in his hand as Jérémie reached for it from where he sat in the recliner.

"1996, Jérémie's first national spelling bee," Odd read off the side label. He turned to Jérémie, Jérémie's hand inches away from Odd's head as he asked, "How were you in a national spelling bee when you were four?"

"We knew you were smart, Einstein, but isn't that passed normal kid genius level?" Ulrich asked from where he sat on the sofa. He turned as the four girls walked over and said, "There you are!"

"Everything alright?" Jérémie asked, giving up with Odd as he looked at Aélita.

"Just girl talk," Yumi said, giving them the thumbs up.

Aélita walked over to Odd and leaned over to see what else he had found as Yumi and Odd's sisters went over to Ulrich. "What else is down here?"

Odd glanced at her before turning to the tapes. "One labeled mysteriously as Jérémie's early days, Christmas '92 and '93-"

"Ooo, grab that one," Aélita said, realizing those would be Jérémie's first and second Christmases.

Odd pulled it out and sat it on the pile he was making with the tape from the spelling bee.

"Odd," Jérémie whined.

"Look, if everyone ever gets together at my house, you can go through my family's tapes," Odd said.

"We'll be sure to remember you said _that_ ," Pauline said. "Maybe start them off with your first time on stage?"

"Okay, already regretting it," Odd mumbled, getting a laugh out of Aélita. He stood up, closing the door on the shelf, and grabbed the two tapes.

Aélita turned around and glanced at Jérémie sitting in the recliner. Unable to separate her memories of Jay and the chair, she went over to the love seat and sat down on the end closest to the TV.

Ulrich, Yumi, Adele, and Pauline squished in together on the sofa as Jérémie got up and crossed the room, passing Odd who was turning on the TV and tape player.

"Can I hide behind you?" Jérémie asked, taking a seat beside Aélita.

"It can't be that bad," Aélita said, a part of her jealous Jérémie even had record of his childhood. All she had was two pictures and a letter she had written herself.

"Alright, first one's Christmas 1992," Odd said, taking his seat of the recliner as he held the remote.

Aélita felt Jérémie rest his head on her shoulder as he let out a moan. She turned to look at him, seeing only his blonde hair as he had his face pushed into the sofa and let out a laugh.

"Come on, Jérémie, we need someone to tell us who's who," Yumi offered.

Through the sofa Jérémie mumbled, "Aélita can do that."

The static on screen quickly changed to a shot of another house's family room, decked out for Christmas.

"Alright Jay, what day is it?" Grandmére's voice asked from behind the camera. She pointed the camera down at a boy of about thirteen with blonde hair as a toddler started playing with a still wrapped present on the floor at the teen's feet.

"It's Christmas," Jay said.

"What year, smart aleck?" Grandmére asked, a laugh in her voice.

"1992," Jay said, glancing down to see the toddler smacking the present against the floor. "Hey! Don't do that!"

"Is that Patrick?" Aélita asked.

She felt Jérémie move his head quickly to take a glance at the screen before shoving his head back in the sofa. "Yeah," Jérémie mumbled.

The camera angled to the carpet as Grandmére took the package away from Patrick before she stood back up. "And let's see the newest addition to the Belpois Clan," Grandmére said as she pointed the camera at a younger Béa sitting in a sofa with a sleeping bundle in her arms. "Is little Jérémie sleeping through all of this?"

Béa nodded her head, her eyes looking exhausted as she held Jérémie to the camera. "Yeah, cause he wasn't asleep all last night."

"I offer we change his name to the Poop Machine," Michel's voice said, getting Grandmére to turn the camera to the man sitting beside his wife.

"Aw, Jérémie, you're so cute," Aélita said as the camera turned back to look at baby Jérémie, his blonde hair only peach fuzz at this point.

He let out a moan as Odd, Ulrich, and Adele let out a laugh at what Jérémie's dad had said.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt the home movie," Grandmére said, stepping out of the stair well. "The program just found something."

-.-.-.-

Aélita stood behind Jérémie, watching him, his mother, and his grandmother working through the data they had collected. She knew her friends were behind her, the master bedroom filled with nine people.

"I think that one's a false reading," Béa said, pointing a fingernail at the screen. She moved her finger down and added, "But this one looks like it's not."

"If so, then that would put the supercomputer in…" Jérémie ran some mental math quickly before looking at his mom. "In Criel."

"In that area, defiantly," Béa said, nodding her head.

"Isn't that where the DRM headquarters are located?" Ulrich asked.

"One of their two locations," Grandmére offered. "The other's in Paris."

"But is it one of the replicas connected to Lyoko?" Yumi asked.

"Not a replica, but theoretically we should be able to reach it from Lyoko," Jérémie said. "Though with it being under DRM control, I'm sure their protection is top notch." He turned and grabbed his laptop from the bed and opened it up so he could start typing away, standing up.

"What are you doing?" Béa asked, watching Jérémie type away.

"If I can send a probe-like device into that world, I might be able to break in enough to activate a tower," Jérémie explained. "If I can do that, maybe we can make contact."

"Don't forget your encryption," Béa reminded.

"Oh, right," Jérémie said, opening a new window with short-cut commands.

"Your mom's supposed to be trapped in that world?" Adele asked.

Aélita nodded her head, hope clogging her throat.

"There, let's hope this probe can make it," Jérémie said, finishing typing up the code. He quickly sent it out and straightened his back,

"How long will it take it to get there and back?" Odd asked.

"Depends on how strong their defenses are," Jérémie admitted. "I'm using a code Xana uses a lot in his attacks, so it's pretty good at getting through things. But I expect maybe an hour or so."

Odd went ahead and plopped down on the floor where he stood, getting a similar response out of his sisters and Ulrich. Yumi leaned against the wall and asked, "Any idea what you'd want to say to her?"

Aélita leaned against the edge of the bed, just realizing she had no idea of what she should say to her mom. She didn't remember the woman all that well. "I'm not going to be what she expects," Aélita realized.

"You're alive, I'm sure that's more than she expects," Grandmére said. "Remember, if your father was told she was dead, they might've told her they killed you when they turned off the supercomputer."

"Either that or they're using you and Franz as leverage to make sure she cooperates," Yumi realized. Aélita looked at her as she added, "You know," she lowered her voice to say, "we'll let them free if you do such and such."

Beep Beep Beep

"Huh? It's already back?" Jérémie asked surprised as he turned to the screen.

A moment passed as he read through what the probe had sent back before Odd asked, "Well, what did it come back with?"

"A message," Jérémie said, surprise on his face. "I didn't attach anything to this to say who we were, in case the DRM intercepted it, but…" his voice fell away. He looked over at Aélita and said, "You'd better read it."

Aélita leaned over and quickly found the message hidden in his code. "Help. I'm being held prisoner. My name is Anthea Hopper." The hope blocked her throat again at the last line of text. Tears started to blur her eyes, getting her to quickly wipe them away.

"You did it, Einstein," Ulrich exclaimed.

AN: You know, I count this as an accomplishment.

ODD: What?

AN: This is the longest story I've been able to write that keeps the same main plot as the base of its story. This whole story is about finding out what happened to Aélita's parents. Normally to get something this long, I have to have an A, B, and C story. There's been little side stories, sure, but the main plot is still hanging over the whole story.

ODD: I don't know if to say congrats or be scared.

AN: Why you say that?

ODD: Is this going to show the future of your stories? Are we going to be doomed to read 100+ page stories from now on?

AN: Oh, I know that won't happen. Esh, some stories just don't give enough to be stretched out so long. Though I think this will break the record for the longest story I've ever written. It's even surpassing Exchange Student (to those reading this in the future when I will be posting it, I've only just started working on the re-write of Exchange Student so I don't know how long that will be yet).

ODD: I'm gonna regret asking, how many pages you up to at this chapter?

AN: 103. And I still have a few things to have happen. We have to make it through New Year's, remember. This is only the 30th of December. The original story ended on New Year's, just after midnight, but this time I might take them past it. Not sure yet. It hasn't been written yet.

ODD: Franz's birthday's tomorrow then.

AN: Yeah


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Aélita leaned her head against Jérémie's shoulder, fatigue setting in as she sat beside Jérémie on his parent's bed. She had been trying to help him take the data they had collected from the world her mother was being held in to learn more about it. So far it looked like a version of Lyoko with a few improvements, mostly being in the code. It was getting frustrating to think they were so close to activating a tower in that world only to be forced to come up with something new. The afternoon had been spent explaining to Béa and Grandmére how Lyoko worked so they could help. Now Michel sat behind his wife, him leaning against the pillows as his wife sat in his lap typing away on her laptop, so he could watch her work.

It struck Aélita as sweet for how long those two had been married and to still be happy just snuggling like that.

She turned her eyes to Grandmére, the elder woman sitting on her cot as she looked down at the desktop still on the floor. The keyboard rested in her lap as she clicked away at the mouse sitting beside her. Aélita looked back at Jérémie's laptop only to be caught off guard as a yawn escaped her. She covered her mouth only as the tail end of the yawn left. Jérémie turned his head to her, getting her to mumbled, "Sorry."

"Are you tired?" Jérémie asked.

"A bit," Aélita admitted, glancing at the bottom of his screen to see it was only a little passed seven. "But I wanna help."

"Aélita, you're still recovering," Jérémie pointed out.

"I'll go to bed at eight, okay?" Aélita offered, smiling at him.

Jérémie gave her a pout before turning back to his work. "Okay."

Aélita snuggled the side of her head into Jérémie's shoulder, feeling him stiffen for a moment before going back to typing in code.

"Aélita?" Béa asked, getting the girl to sit up so she could look at Jérémie's mom. "Can you double check this for me?"

"Yeah," Aélita nodded her head as she scooted away from Jérémie's side. Béa leaned forward to pass her laptop. Taking it, Aélita leaned against Jérémie's back as she sat the device in her crossed legs. She scrolled to the top to see Béa's work on creating Xana's level of encryption.

It hit Aélita of the irony, learning form their enemy. But when your enemy can teach you things to use against him, and now against the French government, why not?

"Do you two work with this level of encryption a lot?" Béa asked as Aélita focused on the work before her.

"Not at this level," Aélita admitted, realizing the work was waking her up. She ran an equation in her head, double checking Béa's figures, before saying, "Normally we work with something similar to PointSec, with that being what-"

"What most governments use, I'm familiar with it," Béa offered.

"The DRM sure know what they're up against," Jérémie added as another error sounded from his computer. He let out a sound of aggravation as keystrokes fired off.

"We've never had to break into a world like this," Aélita admitted, keeping her eyes to checking Béa's work. "With Xana's replicas of Lyoko, he forgot to take out the access the key in my program gives us. But since this world wasn't created by Daddy, my key doesn't work." She scrolled down to the bottom of the window as she finished checking her work. She leaned forward and offered back the laptop saying, "Everything looks right."

Béa took the laptop, replacing it on her lap, and asked, "Mom, you ready for the encryption codes?"

"Sent it over," Grandmére said.

Aélita moved again, folding her legs under her as she went back to leaning her head on Jérémie's shoulder as he finished with the tower activation program. She saw a few extra steps he had to preform, hoping they could at least create a stable link between his computer and her mother's world. She knew all this was just to establish a line of communication that the DRM couldn't hear. And hopefully with all the precautions they were taking, they wouldn't be cut off quickly. She just wanted long enough to talk to her mom.

She opened her eyes, thinking she had only blinked with she realized Jérémie was almost done. He was typing up the last line now. She sat up, rubbing the side of her face to get rid of Jérémie's shirt seam lines she was sure to be imprinted there as Jérémie loudly pressed enter. Watching the screen, the lines of data were quickly read and tested before a green circle appeared. "It works!" Aélita exclaimed, giving Jérémie a hug.

"It works?" Grandmére asked, looking up at Jérémie from her screen. "Well send it over so we can try and get all this running."

Jérémie did as asked, sending a copy of the code he had worked so long on to Grandmére's desktop before letting out a sigh.

"What'd the message you send with it say?" Aélita asked, just realizing she missed when he had added it.

Jérémie looked down at his laptop and scrolled to about the middle of the code for Aélita to read for herself.

"Anthea Hopper, we are friends of your husband Franz. He is still alive and so is your daughter," Aélita read aloud. "We are activating this tower to give us a form of communication. Please respond."

"I figured stay professional, since she doesn't know me," Jérémie explained.

"And if she responds in the middle of the night, we should wake up to this thing going off," Grandmére said as she typed away. She hit one last key with flare as she said, "There we go! Tower should be activated any moment now." Just as she closed her mouth the desktop gave off a loud ping. "Success!" She looked up and announced, "Tower is activated. Now we just sit and wait."

Jérémie closed his laptop and sat it on the bed in front of him as he said, "And you're going to bed."

Aélita let out a halfhearted growl as he moved so she couldn't use him to lean on. "Alright, but wake me up when she responds," Aélita said, moving herself off the bed.

"Don't worry, we will," Béa said.

Aélita smiled at the woman before saying, "Good night." She heard the adults respond back as she walked out of the room only to find Jérémie following her. Out in the hall she turned to look at him as she said with a laugh, "I've gotta get changed."

"I know, sorry," Jérémie said, his cheeks turning red as he stopped on the stair landing looking at the floor. Aélita stopped a pace in front of him and turned around, sensing he wanted to say something. "Aélita, I…" his voice fell away as he looked up at her, his glasses falling a bit down his nose so he looked over them at her. He grabbed her hands in his and leaned close, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Aélita squeezed his hands and smiled at him. "I love you too," she said.

AN: They're so cute together! Awww!

ODD: It's not fair.

AN: What?

ODD: Well Jérémie has Aeltia, Ulrich has Yumi, if they'd actually admit it and start dating, but no one stays with me for long!

AN: You've got me.

ODD: You're a creep.

AN: So are you. Anyway, you still have plenty of time to find someone who loves you for your weirdness. The one thing I did like that they added to Code Lyoko Evolution (in the books first!) was the triangle of sorts between Aélita, Jérémie, and the new girl. Though I couldn't tell how much Jérémie actually liked her. But how many times, in real life, do you marry the boy/girlfriend you had back in 9th grade? That would've meant I would've married that country hick of a red-neck who's now in jail! And most-likely there cause he couldn't pay for child support.

ODD: The red-head? The one with the acne problem worst then Hervé?

AN: Yeah, him.

ODD: Cat was always telling you to get a French boyfriend while you dated him.

AN: My point is, sure, some people do marry their first love, but wouldn't they look around when they could? Take Ulrich and Yumi. They both could be really popular and have all the attention they wanted if they actually wanted that. Ulrich kinda has it even if he doesn't want it. I think they would date a few months before something splits them up, before getting back together once Yumi's in 12th grade.

ODD: You've got this all worked out, don't you?

AN: Well, I do have a story that takes place after this one ten years later. What's funny, I originally wrote that back in 2010 to take place in 2016. What was once written to be in the future is now being re-written to be in the past.

ODD: So what's our futures?

AN: Why would I tell you that?

ODD: Come on, you can tell me.

AN: Nope.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"Aélita, wake up."

Aélita let out a moan, Jérémie's voice only vaguely recognized as she opened her eyes. Seeing no sunlight filter into the room, she barely could make out Jérémie standing over her. "What time is it?" Aélita managed to whisper as she sat up, careful of Yumi behind her.

"Almost four, but the program just got a response," Jérémie whispered, just now putting on his glasses.

Aélita's brain awoke at the news as she stood up, sitting down Mrs. Pück on the cot before following Jérémie carefully out of the dark room. The two squeezed out the door, trying to prevent it from letting out a squeak, and rushed down the hall to Jérémie's parent's room. Jérémie pulled open the door only for Aélita to squint at the bright light as they walked in.

She shut the door behind herself as Grandmére's voice said, "Hello, Mrs. Hopper. Can you read me?"

Aélita turned around to take in the room as her eyes adjusted to the light. Grandmére sat in a chair brought up from the kitchen with Béa's laptop sitting on her cot. Michel and Béa stood behind her to look at the screen as Jérémie and Aélita walked over.

"Loud and clear, ma'am," a female voice said from the speakers. Aélita stood next to Michel as a window created itself, establishing a visual contact. On the screen appeared a woman looking to be in her mid-twenties with pink hair pulled up in two buns. Aélita could make out a brown collar leading to an angled brown stole of sorts crossing her chest. She was looking at something below the screen she had projecting her image as she said, "Sorry about the time. This is when they're most lacks in guarding me. I'm only estimating we'll have a few minutes before they notice this. I commend you on your level of encrypting this." She looked up to look through at who all was there, scanning over who was there. "Can you explain how you know Franz and my…" her voice fell away as her green eyes stopped on Aélita. "Aélita? But… how?"

Grandmére stood up, quietly saying, "Here Aélita."

Aélita graciously took the seat. She knew her mouth hung open but she couldn't think of where to start or what to even say. Instead she settled for, "Momma?"

"But they locked you up, you and Daddy," Anthea said, confusion pulling at her digital face.

"Ma'am, if I may," Jérémie offered, dropping down so he crouched next to Aélita to get his head level with hers. "She was stuck in Lyoko up till a year ago. Your husband is still stuck there."

"But," she looked at Aélita, "you don't look much older than when I last saw you. That was more than ten years ago!"

"Bonus of being digital," Aélita admitted. "Didn't age."

Anthea looked at her a moment, her confusion turning to sadness before she shook her head. "I'm sorry. We don't have time for this."

"Momma, we're gonna figure out how to get you out of that world," Aélita said.

"I appreciate the hope, Aélita, but I don't see how," Anthea shook her head. "I haven't been back to Earth for more than ten years but I can guarantee it would be impossible to break into the office this supercomputer's housed in."

"Didn't plan to," Jérémie said, a smile on his face. "Your daughter and I have created…" he thought for a moment before saying, "We created a Skidbladnir."

"Like from those myths Franz was so into," Anthea realized.

"Exactly," Jérémie nodded his head. "It can survive being in the Digital Sea." His smile faded as he continued. "The only problem I can see is because the world you're in isn't a replica of Franz's Lyoko, Aélita's key won't work to unlock the way."

"I might be able to help with that," Anthea said. "I could let you in. I can control what comes in or out of this world, though a normally pointless power those creeps added back in the testing days." She gave them a smile. "They never counted on this."

"Then we can rescue you as soon as we return to school," Aélita said, hope budding up inside her.

"I can't wait to see you again, Aélita," Anthea said, her eyes focused on Aélita. "We've got so much to catch up on."

"I love you, Momma."

"I love you too," Anthea glanced down only to take in a breath. "We've got to disconnect." She looked back at Aélita and said, "Never forget."

Aélita bit her bottom lip, trying to keep in the flood of emotions those two little words brought to her as she watched her mother disconnect. The window closed on its own, being the trigger for sobs to be released without Aélita's consent. Never forget. She had done just that. She had forgotten about her Momma, her Daddy, her prier life, everything.

"Oh Aélita," Béa said, embracing the girl in a hug as she pushed Aélita's head to lean on her chest.

Aélita leaned into the hug, her sobbing restricting her from saying anything or doing much. She felt Béa running a hand through her hair, trying to calm her down. Aélita tried, letting the sobs turn into a silent gasping for air. She sat like that a moment, the only sound in the room coming from her.

She felt Jérémie place his hand on her knee. She reached up to wipe at the tears in her eyes so she could turn and look at him. Her movement got Béa to let go of her only for the sobs to start back. "I want my Momma," Aélita gasped out.

"I know," Jérémie said as he put his arms around her. He held her close as he rested his head on hers. "I know."

Aélita wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest.

ODD: You're cruel.

AN: Why?

ODD: You made Princess cry.

AN: Sorry.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Aélita leaned against Jérémie's shoulder. A small smile flitted across her face as they watched Odd playing with both Kiwi and Manchot, the cat batting at Kiwi's tail. Aélita was proud of the little cat for venturing out while all eight teens sat in the living room.

"Alright you lot," Grandmére said as she walked out of the kitchen. She stopped next to the recliner where Yumi was sitting with her legs over the armrest, giving Yumi's legs a nudge. "Everybody get bundled up and get into the van."

"Huh?" Yumi asked, dropping her legs from the side to sit up.

"Where are we going?" Ulrich asked, sitting his phone down and was about to get up only to find Adele's feet in his lap. "Hey!"

"I was wondering when you'd notice," Adele said, letting out a laugh as she took her legs back to get up.

"Oh, he wasn't gonna notice," Pauline said, looking down at the two from where she sat on the sofa's back. A mischievous smile appeared on her face as she said," And wait 'til you hear what he was writing."

"Pauline!" Ulrich whined, looking up at the girl with a shocked face.

"Ooo, do tell," Odd said as he got to his feet.

"Well," Pauline started, sending a glance down at Ulrich. "Maybe one day," she said, winking at him.

"I'm pulling the van out in ten minutes," Grandmére warned as she shook her head at the group. She walked through the living room and over to the family room, disappearing from sight as she said, "Anyone not in the van isn't gonna have fun."

"Come on," Jérémie said, nudging Aélita to move. "This is the something fun."

"You know where we're going?" Yumi asked. She got to her feet and poked at her brother sitting on the coffee table, his eyes glued to his Game Boy. "Hiroki, you awake?"

"I heard," Hiroki said, not moving from his screen.

Aélita stood up so that Jérémie could move as he said, "I think so. And if I'm right, we're gonna be outside for it all."

"Outside in that weather?" Adele asked, getting to her feet.

"Oh right," Yumi said, laughing. She looked at Jérémie and Aélita to add, "You didn't see Odd's family come out of the plane."

"I thought you'd been to France before," Aélita said, following Jérémie as he started walking to the stairs.

"In the summer time, sure," Pauline said, following as the eight teens started making their way up the stairs.

"You've gotta remember, we're from the Northern end of New Zealand," Adele said.

"In other words, these two had to stop and put on most of their cloths from their suitcases before leaving Mrs. Myriam's jet," Odd said, laughing at the memory.

"I don't _do_ snow," Adele offered.

"This should be fun," Jérémie mumbled, quietly enough Aélita almost didn't catch it.

"Try taking this cold and dropping the temperature another ten or so," Odd said as Aélita and Jérémie reached the second floor. "Xana did that last spring."

"I don't even want this cold," Pauline said as she and her sister turned to go to their room.

"So are you going to give us any hints about what we're gonna do, Einstein?" Ulrich asked as Aélita heard the three following her.

"I already did," Jérémie said, opening his bedroom door. "It's outside."

"Are we going sledding?" Odd asked. "Skiing? Snowboarding?"

Aélita and Yumi walked over to the cot they shared, Aélita knelling down beside the cot to go through her belongings. She noticed Yumi kneel beside her, to go through her own pile under the foot of the cot. Aélita pulled out her new coat, giving a glance at her old one.

"Not answering that, Odd," Jérémie said, walking over to his closet. "'Cuse me," he mumbled, going behind Yumi and Aélita.

Aélita stood up, both coats in hand, as Jérémie opened his closet.

"At least tell me if I'm hot or cold," Odd tried. "Snow carnival? Ice castle?"

"Odd, we'll find out at the same time," Yumi said, standing up with her coats to sit the bundle on the cot.

"What would a snow carnival even be?" Ulrich asked.

Aélita quickly put on her two coats and her scarf, reaching into her new coat's pockets for her mittens as Yumi buttoned herself up.

"I don't know, but it sounds cool," Odd said, letting out a laugh.

Aélita rested her butt up against the edge of the cot, seeing Odd put on ear muffs as Ulrich finished wrapping his scarf around his neck.

Odd looked over at them, smiling as his eyes stopped on Yumi. "Hey, it's that cat hat."

Aélita looked at the girl next to her and saw she was wearing the fluffy black cat beanie Odd had found the time they had been swapped.

"Yeah, I used to wear it all the time," Yumi admitted.

A horn sounded from outside, getting Aélita to stand straight in surprise.

"Grandmére's warning," Jérémie announced, shutting the closet to show himself bundled in his coat and scarf.

"She wouldn't actually leave us?" Yumi asked, looking out the window behind their cot. "Would she?"

"I'd rather not tempt her," Jérémie said, leading the way out of the room.

"She would," Odd said.

Aélita followed her friends out of the room and down the stairs, the five running out the door as they passed Michel.

"And five. Okay, that's everybody," Michel said, following the group outside. He lagged behind to shut the door and lock it.

Aélita got to the already running van as Ulrich slid open the siding door to see everyone was already inside the four row van.

The last row was full with Yumi and Ulrich's parents. Odd's parents and Pauline had taken the next row as Odd tried to squeeze in with them. Ulrich and Yumi added themselves to the row Hiroki and Adele had, leaving Aélita and Jérémie to sit on the front row with Béa. Jérémie slid closed the door as Michel climbed in the passenger seat.

"We got everybody?" Grandmére asked, turning in her seat with a hand on the wheel to take in the sight of the packed van.

"Everyone's a bit squished back here!" Bruno called out from the back.

"Enjoy yourself, Bruno," Marguerite said with a laugh.

"Everyone's here," Béa said.

"Good." Grandmére turned back around in her seat and pulled on her seat belt.

"I am still curious," Aélita said, finding herself in between Béa and Jérémie on the only bench that wasn't squished as they started to pull out of the driveway. She noticed Béa had a camcorder in her lap, only peeking her curiosity.

"It'll be a surprise until we get there," Béa said, smiling at the girl.

"I know, you've figured out how to make an ice dirigible!" Odd called out.

"A what?" Ulrich exclaimed.

Aélita turned in her seat to see almost everyone looking at the blonde and purple haired teen.

"Odd, that has got to be the stupidest idea yet!" Yumi said.

"Actually, it might be an interesting device for my villain," Robert said, eyeing his son.

"It wouldn't fly," Jérémie pointed out.

"No, but it would give him a reason to steel Earth's last remaining natural ice," Robert said. "Hon, you have some paper and a-"

"Right here," Marguerite said, cutting her husband off.

Aélita turned around in her seat to look out the front window, the snow piled up at the edge of the road as it snowed, making the forest around them beautiful. No wonder her family had lived here.

Her mind traveled back to her family as sound from the people around her blurred together. Her mom was alive, and in a few days would be home. And she had found a grandma. Hopefully she could see her tomorrow. "Oh shoot!" Aélita mumbled, just remembering what the date was.

"What is it?" Jérémie asked.

Aélita looked over at him and said, "It's Daddy's birthday. I wanted to do something for him now that we know, but…" she let her voice fall away, not sure what she could do.

"You remember when we threw you a birthday party when you were on Lyoko?" Jérémie asked. Aélita nodded her head, letting him continue. "I had tried to make you a virtual birthday cake, though it didn't turn out right. I still have the start of that saved if you wanna send that to Lyoko. I know he can't eat it, but the thought would still be there."

Aélita gave him a smile. "That'd be perfect."

"Alright everybody," Béa called out loud enough to get everyone's attention as she turned to look behind her. "With someone's help, a few ideas have been thrown out. Surprisingly enough, he never picked what we're going to do." She glanced out the passenger window as she said, "If everyone would look to the left, you'll see an outdoor ice rink."

"You people _are_ crazy," Adele said.

Aélita looked out the window, seeing groups of people on the large pond with cart venders surrounding it. "I think it's beautiful," Aélita offered, loud enough only Jérémie should hear.

"I learned how to skate here," Jérémie offered. "I wonder if you were ever taken here."

"I wish I could remember," Aélita admitted.

"Maybe when you're on the ice," Adele offered, leaning over the edge of the back of Aélita's seat. "I had a project on types of memory lost last month and one of the ways of helping those with the problem was to get them doing what they had forgotten."

"That would explain why at the Hermitage and the mountain home you seem to have more memories reappear," Jérémie said as the van turned into an unpaved parking lot. "They're acting as catalysts."

"All your memories are there," Adele tried to explain. She thought for a moment before adding, "At least for normal circumstances."

"Daddy gave me back my memories at the end of last school year," Aélita offered.

Adele looked at her a moment before saying, "So you _do_ have your memories. You just can't access them right. Events, places, smells, they all can help you find the missing memory."

"You're forgetting running water and limestone," Pauline said.

Adele turned to look at her sister, asking, "What?"

"You're talking about ghosts, right?"

"Maybe when we save your mom, she'll be able to help you better," Jérémie offered, ignoring the two sisters.

The van pulled to a stop as Michel called out, "Those who need to rent skates, come with me," as he opened his door.

"Jérémie, I've got your skates in the back," Béa offered as Jérémie leaned over to slide open the door.

"Okay," Jérémie said, throwing a look at his mom. "I'll help Aélita get hers first."

Aélita followed behind Jérémie as the large group piled out of the van. As Yumi's parents finally made it out, Aélita realized they must look like they had been cramming a clown car. In no time Aélita got her skates from the rental station that had been set up beside the ice and followed Jérémie to where his mother sat at a picnic table, already lacing up her skates.

Jérémie picked up a pair of black skates from off the table behind his mom and sat down beside the woman as Aélita took the space next to him. She sat the pair of skates beside her feet and looked up, awed at the sight of families and friends on the ice. A smile crossed her face as a small child fell backwards with a laugh.

"Aélita?" Jérémie asked, getting her attention. She looked over at him as he was taking off his shoes as he asked, "You okay?"

Aélita nodded her head, leaning down to undo her boots.

"Uhm, wasn't it warm over here a week ago?" Yumi asked as she sat down beside Aélita with a pair of skates in hand. She looked over at the three beside her as she asked, "How's the ice thick enough?"

"This is a man-made ice rink," Béa explained, sitting her shoes on the table behind her. "There's a specially designed system under the thin layer of ice that can keep the rink solid up to twenty-seven degrees."

"Oh, that's cool," Yumi said. She realized what she had said and added, "And not in Odd's way."

"I'm telling you, I can't skate," Ulrich said, getting Aélita's attention as the teen was being pushed over to the bench she sat at with a pair of skates in his hand.

"You can walk, can't you?" Adele asked, giving him one last push to force him to sit down in the seat behind Aélita. Without waiting for the obvious answer, she said, "Then you can skate. Put them on."

Aélita pulled her boots off, sitting them beside her feet, and slid on the skates as she heard Pauline say in a hushed voice, "I could tell Yu-"

"Hey!" Ullrich exclaimed, getting Aélita to glance over her shoulder to look at the three. "That's blackmail!"

Pauline let out a laugh, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yes. It is, isn't it?"

"Pauline, Adele, it's not the time to be torturing Ulrich," Marguerite said as she came over with a pair of skates in hand.

"I don't think any time is the time for this torcher," Ulrich said loud enough Aélita could hear.

Aélita let out a laugh, going back to lacing up her skates. "Yumi," she said, keeping her voice low enough Ulrich couldn't hear. "Maybe it's time to save him from Odd's sisters."

Yumi stood up on her skates, sitting her shoes under the seat as she gave Aélita a slight nod. She turned to face Ulrich and said, "If you want, I could teach you how to skate."

"Uhm, okay," Ulrich said.

Aélita finished lacing her skates and sat up, nervousness filing her. She noticed Béa had left them, already lapping the rink. Somehow she had missed Odd putting on his skates, the boy already catching up to Béa's pace. Motion out of the corner of her eye got her to watch Ulrich walking beside Yumi to the rink, him already fighting to keep his balance.

"You ready?" Jérémie asked, getting to his feet.

"I think so," Aélita offered, pushing down her nervousness. She pushed herself up, quickly finding her ankles wanting to go inward. She let out a sound as Jérémie quickly grabbed out and caught her arm.

"Whoa!" Jérémie exclaimed, helping her keep her balance.

"And I haven't even gotten to the ice!" Aélita said, letting out a laugh.

"Come on, Bruno, we used to go skating all the time," Carole's voice said, catching Aélita's attention. She turned to see the woman kneeling in the snow to lace up her husband's skates after she had finished putting on her own.

"You know I haven't skated since after we married," Bruno said as she stood up.

"Neither have I," Carole said, holding out her hand. A small smile pulled on her face. "Hey, name's Carole. You're that Stern boy, right?"

Aélita turned back to Jérémie, seeing he had been watching their friend's parents. Whispering, she said, "I think this vacation might help Mr. Stern. At least until he gets back home."

"Yesterday Ulrich said something about his father even coming to him to apologies," Jérémie whispered, looking at Aélita.

"For what?"

Jérémie gave her a shrug. "I don't know. But according to Ulrich, that was the first time he had ever heard him say sorry."

Aélita glanced back at the two, seeing Carole holding both of Bruno's hands as a smile crossed the man's face. "I hope it lasts after the New Year," Aélita wished.

"Come on, let's get on the ice," Jérémie said, sliding his hand down her arm to take hold of her mittened hand.

Aélita nodded her head, looking towards the ice. As they walked towards it, she realized she was finding her balance on the blades. Carefully they made the transition onto ice and muscle memory took over as she pushed herself forward.

"You _do_ know how to skate," Jérémie praised, keeping pace with her.

Aélita gave his hand a squeeze, looking at him as she was about to say something when the sound of someone falling took her attention. She skidded to a stop, stopping Jérémie, as they turned around to see Bruno letting out a laugh as he sat on his butt on the ice.

"Now there's the man I married!" Carole said, letting out a laugh as she held her hand out to pull him up. Instead of helping him up, she was pulled down, getting a new fit of laughter from her.

"This really is too good to be true," Odd said, stopping beside his friends.

"Where's Ulrich?" Aélita asked, looking around the large rink. "He should be happy at the change."

"He's with Yumi over there," Odd said, pointing his gloved hand to two figures easy to distinguish from Yumi's cat hat. "When I passed him, he said he wasn't sure what to think." He gave them a smile as the three started skating again. "Though I think this week's doing him and Yumi some good too."

"Let us know if one of them actually admits it," Aélita said, letting out a laugh.

"I'm starting to wonder if I missed anything between you two," Odd said, eyeing them as he turned to skate backwards. "I've seen you two snuggling."

"We've always liked each other," Aélita pointed out, noticing Jérémie's cheeks turning red. She gripped his hand tighter, to prevent him from taking it back.

"True, you two just seem…" Odd looked up, trying to find the right words. "Like back when you were stuck in Lyoko and we'd have to unplug Jérémie's desktop so he'd actually get some sleep."

"They actually did that?" Aélita asked, laughing as she turned to Jérémie.

"Once or twice," Jérémie admitted, putting his free hand in his pocket.

Odd checked where he was going just in time to notice they were catching up to Yumi and Ulrich, Yumi holding onto Ulrich's hand. As the three got closer, Odd skated ahead and turned so he could see all four of his friends. "Hey, who wants to race?"

"What?" Ulrich exclaimed, turning to look at Odd only to lose his balance. With Yumi's help he caught himself before falling and said, "I can't even go forward!"

"You say something about a race?" Adele asked, skidding to a stop in front of the group. "I'm in." She turned so she was on Ulrich's free side and hooked her elbow into his. She pointed her free hand forward as she said, "Let's go! Partner race!"

Adele pulled Ulrich along, starting the race as Odd called out, "No fair!"

"Guess I've got my partner," Aélita said, letting go of Jérémie's hand to link elbows. She took a look at his face, seeing mostly apprehension behind his glasses. She gave him a smile that quickly spread to his face. "Come on!"

"May I, Miss Ishiyama?" Odd asked, holing out a hand to Yumi.

Aélita and Jérémie passed the two as Yumi linked elbows with the boy.

AN: And to think, in the original version, all of this was one paragraph. Now it's seven pages.

ODD: You're trying to kill your readers.

AN: I can't help that to get this story out before too far in January I've gotta upload a chapter every other day! If I had posted this thing the way I post my normal stories I would've had to start when I'm writing this thing. Back in early May!

ODD: Time travel and tenses get confusing.

AN: You're telling me!


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Aélita took a bite of her foie gras, the meat a spatiality to her, as she took in where she was. Sure she was still at what had been the kids table for two weeks in the kitchen and sure it had more people now than when it had just been Jérémie's family, but these people were as important to her.

"And he said 'I'm sorry, I'm not who you're searching for'!" Odd exclaimed, laughing at his own joke.

Ulrich let out a loud moan as he reached for his glass of water.

"Odd, are the jokes you tell them always this bad?" Pauline asked.

"They _have_ been worst," Yumi pointed out. "He had this one about a frog that was just sad."

"No it wasn't," Odd said, his cheeks full of what he had just shoved into his mouth.

"Sad for you, Odd," Yumi added.

"Oh, speaking of sad," Adele said before swallowing the bite in her mouth. She turned to her brother and asked, "Where's your kilt?"

"You have a kilt?" Aélita asked.

"I'm not wearing the kilt," Odd declared.

"Why do you have a kilt?" Ulrich asked. "You're New Zealand/French/Italian, not Scottish."

"New Zealand tradition," Odd mumbled.

Adele let out a laugh, covering her mouth to prevent the bite of food she had just eaten from showing as she said, "Last year, Grandpa got him to wear it traditionally. We're outside at the New Year's picnic for the family and this strong wind comes out of nowhere. Poor Marie ended up getting a good look at Odd's-"

Odd reached over and pushed her hand into her mouth, cutting her off.

"She wasn't the only one," Pauline said, shaking her head. "Me and Elisabeth were sitting there too. _Not_ what you wanna see when eating hotdogs."

Yumi let out a laugh, covering her mouth.

Aélita took a moment before remembering the traditional way to wear a kilt was without anything underneath. "Oh!" Aélita let out, her face heating up as her mind recreated the scene without her wishes.

"I'm done with kilts," Odd said as he released his sister.

"Then maybe we should get Louise to make more dresses," Adele said. Odd threw her a look as he shoved the last of his meal in his mouth, getting her to defend, "Hey, you said no more kilts. A dress is not a kilt."

"Hey, you think we can get seconds?" Hiroki asked as he got to his feet, picking up his empty plate.

"I'll come with you," Odd said, standing up.

"Jérémie, you alright?" Yumi asked, turning Aélita's attention to the boy sitting beside her. He looked at Yumi on his other side as he swallowed the bite he had eaten. "You haven't said much."

"Just, uh, mentally going through my New Year's cards," Jérémie admitted. "A few I hadn't figured what to put in them."

"You've only got an hour till midnight," Yumi said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Oh no!" Aélita exclaimed, getting the table's attention. "I forgot all about New Year's cards. I spent the whole afternoon on Daddy's birthday present."

"You don't have to worry 'bout ours," Ulrich said.

"And for the parents, you could just add your name to the cards I have," Jérémie offered.

"I couldn't," Aélita said, shaking her head.

"I don't think Jérémie's parents would mind," Pauline said.

Aélita smiled at the girl, thinking how his parents had been treating her like a daughter. Truthfully she liked it. Béa had been feeling like a mother to her. Her smile faltered at the thought of her real mother.

Hiroki walked back into the kitchen with his plate refilled and sat back in his seat next to his sister as Odd walked in with his plate filled with enough food for two people.

"I'm still waiting for when your metabolism just stops," Adele said as he sat in between her and Ulrich. "You'll end up looking just like 'Lisabeth."

"So the crazy metabolism isn't a family thing?" Yumi asked.

"It is until you turn seventeen," Pauline said, sitting down her fork. She raised her hands up to show creepy fingers as she added, "One day you wake up and the Della Robbia stomach just stops. You're not hungry and if you continue to eat like you're used to. Boom!" She quickly raised her hands to create a sense of an explosion. "You gain weight just like that!" She snapped her fingers to prove her point.

"You've been telling me the same horror story all my life," Odd said as he shoved a piece of crepe into his mouth. With a full mouth he said, "I laugh at the _woman's_ curse to the Della Robbia stomach."

"Here we go again, "Adele said, rolling her eyes as she leaned over to Aélita.

"I would love to see your whole family," Aélita said with a laugh.

"Dad's side of the family's where the Della Robbia stomach comes from, Odd," Pauline pointed out. "He went through it when he was seventeen too."

"You know what," Yumi said, getting Aélita to turn back to the girl. "I like that idea."

"What idea?" Aélita asked.

"Make it every New Year's we gather at one of our family's places," Yumi said. She let out a laugh, "Maybe next year we could do this on my family's land."

"You really want these people to meet Ojii-san?" Hiroki asked, eyeing his sister.

Yumi paused for a moment before nodding her head. "Yeah, Ojii-san too," she said.

"Your Ojii-san?" Jérémie asked.

"Japanese for granddad," Ulrich offered, interrupting Yumi. Yumi turned to him, getting his face to flush. "You, uh, mentioned it before," he quickly added, eating the last of his foie gras.

"You get Dad and Ojii-san together and next thing you know," Hiroki made a face, sticking his tongue out as he crossed his eyes.

"Baba tries to keep him in line, "Yumi offered.

"I'd like to meet all of your family one day, "Ulrich said, his cheeks still red.

"Ooo, I wonder what family movies you'd have," Adele said.

"I'm gonna make a prediction," Odd said, getting attention drawn to him as he and Pauline ended their argument. "Next New Year's we'll have it at the Hermitage with Aélita's parents as hosts."

Aélita smiled at the idea as her friends around her agreed. "I'd like that," Aélita offered.

"Alright kids," Michel said, announcing his presence as he walked back into the kitchen. As he opened the oven he asked, "Who's ready for some King Cake?"

Aélita quickly ate the last of her crepe to finish off her plate as Odd said, "You know I am."

Michel placed the circular cake in the center of the table, the cake topped with slices of fruit that had been baked into it. "And I've checked with your parents," he said as he stood straight. "Who'd like a glass of wine?"

"They really said it was alright?" Hiroki asked.

"Only a little bit, it is New Year's," Michel said, giving him a smile before stepping back into the dining room.

"Is it alright?" Aélita asked Jérémie as Odd started to cut into the cake to get himself a slice. Her mind flashed back to the attic, knowing Jay had been drunk when he had grabbed her.

"You don't have to drink it, if you don't want to," Jérémie said, his face showing his unsureness.

Michel walked back into the kitchen with two hand's full of wine glasses, sitting a glass before everyone before going back into the dining room. He quickly returned with a bottle of white wine and poured everyone a small glass.

"What is it?" Pauline asked as he was pouring her glass.

"Chardonnay," Michel offered.

Aélita reached for a slice of King Cake as Michel was finishing pouring Yumi's glass. "Bon appétit," Michel offered as he left the kitchen. Aélita placed her cake on her plate before giving the wine much thought. She figured she was missing why it was called white wine when it was clearly yellow.

"I hope this tastes better then saki," Yumi said, holding her wine glass by the stem as she looked at the liquid.

"When did you try saki?" Hiroki asked, already eating his cake.

"Ojii-san gave me some," Yumi defended before taking a sip. She pulled a face and, pointedly sat the glass down, before saying, "Nope. Still a nope."

Aélita watched Jérémie sip at his glass, him clearly favoring the taste better than Yumi, and turned back to her own drink. Carefully she took a sip, the liquid tasting good to the front of her tongue. She swallowed only to be shocked by the burn it gave her in her throat. She put a hand at her throat in surprise as she said, "I thought wine was supposed to go down smooth."

"Smooth doesn't quiet mean that with wines," Jérémie tried.

"Kick's like a good ol' American Coke," Pauline said with a smile.

"Oh, what a thing to compare it to," Odd said, giving his sister a look.

-.-.-.-

Aélita signed the last of her New Year's cards and clicked closed the pen, leaning passed Jérémie sitting at his desk to put it back in his penholder. She went back to the card she had just signed and slid it in its envelop, sliding the flap in to hold it shut. She looked at Jérémie to see he was finishing the short letter in the last of his cards. Aélita grabbed the pile of cards she had and glanced at the clock, seeing they only had ten minutes before midnight.

"You finished?" Jérémie asked, closing his pen before sliding the card in its envelop.

"Yap," Aélita said, walking out of the small space between the desk and Ulrich's cot. "At least we don't have to mail these."

"Let's go hand them out," Jérémie offered, getting out of his chair.

A song coming from downstairs filtered through the floorboards, getting Aélita's attention. Without realizing it, she had started to sing along. "Not only good-bye, my brothers, it's not only good-bye. Yes, we will see each other again." She noticed Jérémie staring at her and stopped. She gave him a smile, feeling awkward about anyone hearing her sing outside of Lyoko. "I guess I know the song."

"No, uh, don't stop," Jérémie tried. He smiled, taking her free hand in his. "I like your voice."

"While our hearts have kept love from long ago," Aélita sang, the music rising up from below their feet. "To the good old days, my dear friends, to the good old days."

"Friends, linked by this chain," Jérémie sang along. "Around the same fire. Friends, let's not say farewell."

"For the ideal that brings us together will live in the future," Aélita sang, loving how her voice sounded with his. "For the ideal that brings us together will know how to reunite us."

"Aw! You two really are so cute together!" Adele's voice exclaimed.

Aélita turned in shock, letting go of Jérémie's hand to see Adele and her brother in the doorway, Odd holding a camcorder pointed at them.

"Maybe it's time we go the Poprock Progressives back together," Odd said, smiling at the two. "We've got our singers."

Aélita felt her face heat up and stole a glance at Jérémie to see his face as red as hers had to be.

AN: Ok, a few things. In France, as long as the parent okays it, a little bit of wine with dinner is ok, no matter the age. They don't seem to have such an aversion as Americans do, from my understanding.

When Michel says Bon appétit, it could be taken as him saying it in English because of how I have it so that the languages are flopped. But who in English says "Enjoy your meal" like that? At least I don't hear it much.

In the original version, I had Jérémie and Aélita singing together in the car ride to the house back in chapter 1, and to an ATC song. I wanted to keep them singing together but I didn't want to keep the song there. In the original version everyone is watching the Eiffel tower get lit up for New Year's when the song Choral des Adieux starts to play. I wanted to keep the song so I had it just being Jérémie and Aélita singing it. It's a beautiful song and fits what they're going through surprisingly well. This was also the end of the original story, but then again I added in the main plot line of Anthea and finding Aélita's family.

ODD: How you didn't add that plot line when the original version was begging for it is beyond me.

AN: You're telling me.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Aélita looked at the pile of New Year's cards she had received last night sitting on the floor beside her suitcase as she buttoned up her coat. She was going to wait until she could go through them with her mother as a way to help her explain each person to the woman.

"You sure you don't want anyone to come with you?" Yumi asked from where she stood by Jérémie's desk.

"Jérémie's parents are both coming," Aélita reminded, picking up her scarf. She turned to face her friend and wrapped it around her neck. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"It's weird to think only a year ago…" Yumi's voice fell as she tried to find a way to word it.

"And now I have a biological family?" Aélita offered, thinking she knew where Yumi was trying to get.

"Not just them. I think Jérémie's parents are trying their best to fill that spot too," Yumi said, letting out a smile.

"I don't mind," Aélita admitted.

"You ready, Aélita?" Béa asked, sticking her head into the open doorway.

"Yes ma'am," Aélita said, pulling her mittens out of her pockets as she started to the door.

"I guess when you get back, we'll start packing up," Yumi said as the girl passed her.

"To think, tomorrow Momma will be free," Aélita said, a smile on her face. She left the room with hope budding inside her as she followed Béa down the stairs.

"Just remember, your grandma might be surprised to see you," Béa offered, keeping her eyes on the steps as they descended. "She was the only living relative mentioned in Robert's obituary."

"I'd thought about that," Aélita admitted, the two meeting up with Michel, already in his coat with the car keys in hand. "We'll just tell her I was orphaned and am looking for my family."

"That'd work better than my idea," Michel admitted, pulling open the door for the two to walk out.

"Let me guess, school project?" Béa asked, eyeing her husband as she and Aélita stopped on the porch for him to shut the door.

"Hey, it worked, usually," Michel offered.

Aélita followed the two to the small car and got into the backseat, wondering what the two were going on about but didn't ask.

Michel turned over the engine and pulled them out of the driveway as Béa turned on the radio.

Aélita looked out the window, watching the forest break apart for a house here and there before they started getting into the city. Her finger started keeping in time with the song on the radio as worry started eating away at her. She had no memory of her grandma, she wasn't even sure if she should call the woman such. Her age was another possible problem, if the woman had known about her being born in 1982. Secretly she hoped the woman was in the nursing home because of dementia. She let out a sigh, resting her hand as the song changed.

"How you holding up?" Michel asked, his eyes visible in the rear-view mirror as he glanced at her.

"Good," Aélita tried, looking at the man's brown eyes. "A little nervous."

"That's only natural," Béa offered, turning to look at Aélita sitting behind her. "We'll be here for support."

Aélita smiled at the woman. "Thank you."

Béa turned back around in her seat to look back out the front, saying something just low enough Aélita couldn't hear it over the radio. Michel nodded his head slightly, in response.

Aélita looked out the window, taking in the city as they got closer to The House of Age and Life in Pouilley-les-Vignes and her grandmother. The three road in the car, the only sound coming from the radio DJ, as Michel turned them into a parking lot and found a space. As he killed the engine Aélita unbuckled herself and got out of the car. She waited for Béa to grab her purse before the three walked over to the main entrance.

"Excuse me," Michel started, leading the three to a counter positioned to the side of the entry way. A woman about Jérémie's parent's age looked up from what she was writing, letting Michel continue. "We're looking for Angela Hopper."

The woman's eyebrows raised in surprise as she sat down her pen. "I'm sorry, she was transferred to the hospital a week ago," the woman offered. "May I ask what you want from her? No one ever came to visit her after…" her voice fell away as Aélita guessed she was going to say after her husband passed.

"I just found out she's my grandma," Aélita admitted, getting the woman's attention.

The woman gave her a look before a sad smile appeared on her face. "You do look like her," the woman realized aloud.

"Can you tell us why she got sent to the hospital?" Béa asked.

The woman looked at Béa before looking back at Aélita. "I'm not supposed to," she started slowly before looking back up at Jérémie's parents. "Mrs. Hopper's in stage four of breast cancer. We do thorough heath checks bi-monthly and even knowing her family history it came out of nowhere."

"Stage four?" Béa asked, worry evident in her face.

The woman nodded her head. "She's at the University Hospital of Jean Minjoz. Do you need directions?"

"No, thank you for your help," Michel said, turning back towards the door.

Aélita took that as her cue to lead them out and back to the car as she asked, "Stage four isn't good, is it?"

Béa put an arm around the girl and shook her head. "No, it's not."

Aélita wrapped her arm around Béa's back to give her a hug back before breaking away to get into the backseat. The fifteen minute drive to the hospital was even more nerve-wracking for Aélita. She didn't know much about any type of cancer but she could put together the fact that many died from it and that stage four was bad enough to worry about the woman she had yet to meet. The three road in silence, no one bothering to turn on the radio this time.

Michel parked the car and the three walked inside to be greeted by a receptionist. He rested a hand on the counter and said, "We're looking for Angela Hopper. We were told she was brought here last week."

The receptionist typed in the name to her computer before nodding her head. "Yes, the poor dear was brought in on Christmas Day. Are you family of hers?"

"I am," Aélita offered. "She's my grandma."

The receptionist sat a clipboard on the counter separating her from them and said, "Please sign in here."

Michel quickly scribbled his name down and moved the clipboard to his wife as the receptionist handed him a sticker stating Visitor.

Aélita got the clipboard and wrote her first name before stopping without writing her last name down. Something within her prevented her from putting her real last name but she didn't want to write Stones. Quickly she wrote Belpois and handed back the clipboard, hoping Béa didn't notice as she received her sticker.

"She's on the fifth floor, room 517," the receptionist offered as Aélita stuck the sticker on her coat.

"Thank you," Béa offered as they walked away.

Michel motioned to a gift shop and asked, "You think we should bring her something?"

"That'd be nice," Aélita offered.

"I'd stay away from flowers," Béa pointed out.

Michel rested his hand on Aélita's back as they walked over to the shop. "Why don't you pick something out for her?"

Aélita nodded her head, looking around as they entered the separate room. The words Get Well Soon were printed on most of what she saw with the exception of It's a Boy or It's a Girl. Her eyes laid on a small bear holding a heart shaped balloon reading Get Well Soon. She picked up the bear and looked around some more before deciding it was what she wanted to give. She brought it over to Jérémie's parents to see them looking at ornaments for sale on a tree. "What do you think about this?" Aélita asked, getting their attentions.

"I think it's perfect," Michel said.

Béa took the bear out of Aélita's hands and looked it over with a smile. "You sure this is what you want?"

Aélita nodded her head.

"I'll go ahead and pay for it than," Béa said, taking it over to the counter. She came back to the two and handed Aélita the bear as she said, "Alright, let's go give it to her."

Aélita held tight to the bear as she swallowed the lump trying to block her throat. The three went up the elevator and down a hall, the anti-septic smell starting to get to Aélita as someone let out a loud cough down the hall.

Michel stopped in front of a closed door and turned to Aélita as she and Béa stopped beside him. "Do you want us to come in too?"

"Please," Aélita said, nodding her head.

"We'll be right behind you," Béa said, putting a reassuring hand on Aélita's shoulder.

Aélita took a breath before stepping forward and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

Aélita pushed the door handle and looking in to see a room only lit by the light coming in the open window. She stepped in, seeing a woman with white curly hair sitting on a bed with her blankets coming up to her stomach. A book sat open on the table beside her as the old woman eyed the three walking into her room. "Mrs. Hopper?" Aélita checked, her voice sounding timid to her own ears.

"Last I knew," Angela said. "If you're with that Christmas project group, I already told them I don't need school kids trying to cheer me up."

"I'm not," Aélita said, walking up so she stood beside the bed. "Here, a gift," Aélita offered, holding out the teddy bear.

Angela took the bear, a small smile pulling at her cheeks before it quickly disappeared. Still looking at the bear she said, "You shouldn't've wasted your money. The doc's only giving me a week."

"No," Béa gasped.

Emotions built up inside Aélita, threatening to come out. She clinched her hands in fists at her side to try and keep a lid on the tears she could feel threatening her as she mumbled, "It's not fair."

"Dearie, life's not fair," Angela offered, looking up at the girl. She froze, her eyes glued to Aélita's face before she managed to ask, "Your mother wouldn't- couldn't be Aélita?"

Aélita shook her head. "My mother's Anthea," she explained. "I'm Aélita."

"But that's not possible," Angela said, resting the teddy bear on her stomach. "My memory's the only thing that hasn't gone to pot. Aélita was born in '82."

Aélita nodded her head, coming to terms that she was going to have to tell her the truth. "Yeah, I was," Aélita said, feeling a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see Béa standing behind her before looking back at Angela. "My father had to put me into his creation to save us from people trying to kill us and I got stuck there for ten years. I didn't age during it."

"Your father did what!?" Angela exclaimed, her EKG beating faster with her raised heart rate. "I told Anthea to not marry that crackpot. He and that stupid machine of his is what killed your mom and he risked you too?"

"Momma's not dead," Aélita said, trying to ignore the slander she had heard against her father.

Angela looked at her, confusion on her face as she echoed, "Not dead?"

Aélita shook her head. "The government's holding her but I got to talk to her the other day."

"The government?" Angela echoed.

"Fight the cancer," Aélita said, grabbing hold of the woman's hand in both of hers. "You still have a family, I just found my grandma." The tears that had been threatening to come out broke free, running down her cheeks. "Please, Grandma."

"Oh Aélita," Angela said, reaching up with her free hand to wipe away at the tears.

-.-.-.-

"Maybe after your mom's back in the real world, you could get your grandma transferred to the hospital in Sceaux," Yumi offered after Aélita had told her friends about what Angela was going through. Aélita glanced at the girl beside her as she was folding her cloths on the cot they shared for the past week.

"She now has some hope for a future," Ulrich said from where he packed on the floor. "Hope can be everything."

Aélita laid a dress in her suitcase, a smile on her face at her friends' support.

"I hope we can meet her," Odd said from behind Aélita. "Einstein, what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Break into the DRM's Lyoko with the Skidbladnir and rescue Aélita's mom," Jérémie offered, making a trip to his closet behind Aélita. "As far as I know, Xana doesn't have access to that world but I'm not gonna put it past them to not have monsters of sorts."

"You know, this could be taken as an act of terrorism against France," Yumi pointed out. "If they find out who we are, we really could get in trouble."

"Not all government is right," Ulrich said. "Kidnapping someone, using that person to force another to work for them. At least we can do something about this."

"If you don't want to risk it, you don't have to," Aélita said, keeping her hands busy as she continued to pack. "I know this is something we're not used to fighting against but I'll be going."

"We promised we'd help you get your parents free and we're gonna do it," Ulrich said.

"We'll always have your back, Princess," Odd said.

"I never said I wasn't going to help," Yumi defended, looking over at Aélita. Aélita sat a bundle of cloths in her suitcase and looked at her friend. "Tomorrow we'll save your mom."

"Or die trying!" Odd exclaimed.

"Odd!" Ulrich yelled.

Aélita let out laugh as she went back to packing, her heart warm from her friends help and support.

AN: I was going to make Angela a crazy mental case, like my mother, but… I couldn't do that to Aélita.

ODD: You say that now.

AN: What?

ODD: I can see where this story's going.

AN: OK.


	34. Chapter 34

AN: Sorry for the wait on these last chapters. Before Christmas Dad brought home a sickness and the day after Christmas everyone else in the house caught it. Today's the first day I've been able to turn on my computer.

Chapter 34

The elevator opened for Ulrich and Yumi's group, getting Aélita attention away from watching Odd's family and Jérémie's parents. A part of her was enjoying showing off her father's work, smiling at the awed looks given to just what could be seen in the lab.

Jérémie sat down in the chair in front of the screen, placing the mike on his ear as he turned to his friends. "You ready?"

"Let's go save Aélita's mom!" Odd exclaimed, pointing a finger high in the air.

"Can I see how you get to Lyoko?" Bruno asked, appearing behind Aélita. She turned to look at him, surprised to see his face full of worry.

"I can explain it while Jérémie sends the guys," Aélita offered.

"I'd like to know too," Akiko said, stepping over to stand beside her daughter.

Aélita nodded her head. "Of course."

"Hey Dad, you comin'?" Odd asked as he led the way to the elevator.

"I'm coming too," Michel said, throwing a look at Béa.

Aélita walked into the elevator, sensing more than she was able to see Michel walking behind her. She took her spot next to the button and number pad as her friends and the four adults entered the elevator.

"Do you change the passcode often?" Bruno asked as she pushed the button to bring down the iron curtain, activating the lock.

Aélita nodded her head. "In random intervals Jérémie sets up a numeric code created from a random number generator he created a few years ago."

"And if you forget it, you get chewed out," Odd commented.

"Odd, we had to change it because of you forgetting it that day," Yumi pointed out.

"I commend your level of security," Bruno tried.

"Jérémie has access to all thirty-two cameras the old car company had used for their security, and he's working on adding another five or so," Aélita offered. "He also has control over the elevator." As she said this, the elevator came to a stop, promoting her to put in the code. Doing so, she unlocked the door and told the curtain to raise, revealing the three scanners.

"These are the scanners?" Akiko asked, stepping out to look at the devices.

"Yes ma'am," Aélita nodded her head, walking in to stand beside one. She placed her hand on the device and looked at the adults. "My father based his design of the scanners off of medical scanners. If need be, we can use these to check our health though majority we only have one need with these." She threw a look at Ulrich and Odd, getting them to step into the other scanners. She looked back at the adults and explained, "When Jérémie starts up the virtualization process, the doors will close, incasing the person inside, and activate a decontamination sequence. That will prevent any foreign matter, such as bugs, to be collected as it breaks down the person's molecular structure and saves it as digital data. The same reason I never aged while I was trapped in Lyoko for ten years, theoretically someone could live forever using this technology."

"Isn't it dangerous to be," Bruno tried to recall the word to ask, "molecularly broke down?"

"In theory, no," Aélita admitted, dropping her hand from the scanner beside her. "Sadly this technology is only ten years old and my father never had time to properly test it."

"We know the risks," Yumi said, drawing attention to herself. "Xana gave us an eye opener about that."

"After that, even if it was an attempt of Xana's to break us apart, we took the worry of the supercomputer doing damage to us to heart," Aélita said, eyeing Ulrich's dad. "Jérémie has scheduled monthly checks for all of us. There's a medical library just down the road that Jérémie and I have been going to, to learn what should and shouldn't be there in our free time." She waited for the information to sink in before continuing. "Once the supercomputer saves the data, the consciousness is then sent to Lyoko to control a digital avatar that has either been pre-programed or created by the supercomputer."

"Incredible," Robert said, looking at his son standing in the scanner.

"Are you ready for me to send them?" Jérémie's voice asked from the speakers in the ceiling.

Aélita eyed the adults a moment, waiting in case any of them had any objections before saying, "Go ahead, Jérémie."

The two scanners Ulrich and Odd stood in powered up before the doors closed.

Aélita turned her eyes to watch the four adults as she heard the familiar process of them being virtualized. It only took half a minute before the doors opened back up, empty.

"Any questions?" Aélita asked as Yumi already stepped into the scanner Ulrich had been in a moment ago.

The adults stood quiet before Robert asked, "We don't know the code. How do we get back upstairs?"

"Oh!" Aélita gave them a smile. "Going up there's no passcode." She stepped into the scanner Odd had been in and turned to face them. She looked up at the light above her and said, "Okay, Jérémie. We're ready."

The doors closed on her as she heard Jérémie's voice said, "Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aélita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aélita. Virtualization."

Aélita closed her eyes as she felt the transition from Earth to Lyoko, opening her eyes as she fell into the blue expanse of Sector Five. She stood straight to see Ulrich and Odd waiting for her and Yumi.

"Let's go," Ulrich said, leading the way to the top of the circular sector.

"What's the world we're going to called?" Odd asked as the four ran to the elevator.

"Not all digital worlds have a name," Yumi pointed out.

"All the one's we've been to do," Odd said. The four stopped at the edge of the platform to wait for the elevator. The platform slowed to a stop before them, waiting for them to get on before sending them upwards. "Odyssey sent us to space, Jungle Book sent us to the rainforest," Odd said, counting the places on his paw.

"When did you name those?" Yumi asked.

"Two AM, after we had gone to bed," Ulrich mumbled, the elevator coming to a stop at the top of the sector.

"Best ideas always come in the middle of the night," Odd shrugged.

"Well call this one Purgatory," Aélita said, leading the way to the five platforms. She stopped in the largest one as she added, "I wish we could destroy the supercomputer holding it."

"Sorry Aélita, but that's too risky," Jérémie said, overhearing their conversation as Aélita watched her friends take their spots on the other platforms. Aélita looked over at the tall ship docked before them as Jérémie ordered, "Energizing."

Aélita felt the weird electrical crackling as she was teleported into the cockpit. Her fingers ran through the motions to call off the dock and ordered the Skidbladnir upwards, out of the north pole of the center of Sector Five. Concentrating, she flew the ship out of the now empty data flow and into the desert sector. Double checking her instruments, she ordered the ship to dive into the Digital Sea. As the waves of data settled, she took in the city scape that was the network connecting the world.

"Sending you the coordinates," Jérémie said as Aélita folded the ship into a better shape to fly.

Aélita looked at the screen before her and saw that the world access was close to the world Odd had called Odyssey.

"You don't think Xana'll get curious about what we're doing, do you?" Odd's voice asked coming from the speakers above her.

"Odd!" Ulrich exclaimed. "You just jinxed us."

"He might have," Jérémie's voice said as Aélita's warning lights started going off. "Xana just sent you a shark. It's on its own though."

"I'll get him," Yumi said with a sigh. "Disembark."

Aélita kept track of her friend mostly through radar as the girl's Nav-Skid flew off to confront the lone monster. She saw Yumi dodge out of the way, the shark's laser not visible on Aélita's screen, a moment before the shark disappeared.

"Got him," Yumi reported. "Coming back." Aélita watched the dot that was her friend return before the girl's voice said, "Embark," as her Nav-Skid connected back to the Skidbladnir.

"Have you been able to contact my mother?" Aélita asked as the access to her mother's world appeared up ahead. She started to slow down, unfolding the Skidbladnir as she looked at the key. Where Xana's symbol normally sat was instead a shield.

"Just made contact," Jérémie said. "She should be opening the gate any moment now."

"I wonder what it'll look like," Odd said as they floated in wait.

"You'll see in a minute," Ulrich said.

Aélita watched as the shield on the lock turned before dropping away, the gate opening like a hand reaching out for them. Aélita shook the idea away and flew into it, going through the data to rise above the water level. Her eyes grew wide at the red/orange sky, it making her see fire raining down for a moment. Looking down at the land, trying to find the tower to dock to, she saw the world was crumbling apart and black.

"They made it look like hell," Yumi said, summing up what they all could see.

"I miss Xana," Odd muttered.

Aélita found the tower already glowing Jérémie's green and docked the Skidbladnir next to it. She pressed the commands to teleport her friends down to the ground before following last herself.

Odd sat, crouched on all fours, as he grabbed at the black ground. He pulled up a chuck that disappeared to digital dust before disappearing out of his paw. "This world's made out of ash," Odd said, getting to his feet.

"Something's coming up fast at twelve o'clock," Jérémie warned. "Should be Anthea."

To be on the cautious side, Ulrich and Yumi pulled out their weapons to be at the ready. Outcroppings of volcanic ash and crumbling world blocked their view as they stood their ground.

Two pink buns peeked over one of those outcroppings before a surprised face followed. "Aélita?" Anthea asked, pushing herself up to see the four better.

"Momma!" Aélita exclaimed, running passed her friends.

Anthea jumped over the outcropping, revealing a bo strapped on her back as the woman dressed in all brown ran forwards. She made quick work of halving the distance between her and her daughter, embracing her in a tight hug.

Aélita held the woman tight, worried if she did anything else, her mother would disappear in an explosion of pixels.

Anthea broke the hug, pushing the girl so she stood at arms leant, saying, "Come on, we have time to do this when we're safe."

Aélita reluctantly let go of the woman's arms, looking up at her mother.

Anthea threw a look over her shoulder as she said, "They'll realize something's up soon, so we should be going."

"I think they already know," Jérémie said. "Something coming up fast from the southwest."

"Get Momma in the Skid," Aélita ordered, creating pink balls of energy in her hands to be ready.

"I'm not defensele-," Anthea was saying only to be cut off as Jérémie did as ordered.

"They look like wolfen," Odd said, surprised.

"What?" Aélita asked, seeing two small ships the size of Frôlions.

"Don't care, just shoot," Yumi ordered. "Kill these and we retreat. We just need to get home."

Odd grabbed his wrist and took aim at the two small ships coming at them.

Small purple lasers were shot at them, Yumi deflecting one away with her fan before throwing her other.

"Energy field!" Aélita exclaimed, shooting at the twin planes.

"Laser arrow!" Odd called out, his arrow making contact as Aélita's ball of energy crackled around the enemy. "It's not dead?!" Odd asked, panic evident in his voice.

"Retreat," Jérémie ordered, teleporting the four out of laser fire. "More are coming!"

Aélita found herself back in the cockpit, her mother's voice coming through the speakers. "-can fight! I've lived on this freakin' world for more than ten years! I know how to kill them!"

"We're not staying around for you to teach us," Aélita said, disembarking as the tower deactivated. The ship rocked as a laser made contact, Aélita noticing the life points of the Skidbladnir dropping significantly with the one shot. "Our top priority is getting you home. I want to do that in one piece." Aélita ordered the Skidbladnir over the edge of the desolate wasteland and dived into the Digital Sea, quickly flying out of the world and into the network.

"They're following!" Ulrich said, getting Aélita to glance at the radar.

"With buddies," Jérémie said as five dots came from the world behind them. "Five monsters."

Aélita gritted her teeth as she heard her mother say, "We've got to stop and fight. If they follow us home, you'll all be in danger."

"Arg!" Aélita let out, screeching the ship to a halt. She type away on the keyboard in front of her and announced, "Disembark."

All four Nav-Skids disconnected from the Skidbladnir and turned to face the five dots on Aélita's radar.

Aélita turned the remains of the ship around and activated the torpedoes, keeping her attention to her friend's words.

"They don't have an eye," Ulrich said, his Nav-Skid shooting a torpedo at one.

"Try to get behind them," Anthea said, her ship flying above the fight to rotate upside down and take aim. "The weak sport's the tail!" She shot at one of the enemies, killing it on contact as if to prove her point.

"Any idea on how many life points they have?" Yumi asked as she swerved out of the way of a laser. She hit the monster she fought, trying to get behind it, letting out a sound of surprise.

"Life points!?" Anthea asked. "This isn't some video game!"

"I can't tell," Jérémie admitted. "I'm trying to get a scan of one."

"Oh come on!" Odd exclaimed, getting Aélita to look over and see him and his monster going in circles of each other. The monster following Odd turned its back to Aélita, getting her to quickly take aim and shoot. Her torpedo hit it in its weak spot, killing it on contact.

"Thank you, Princess!" Odd called out, turning his Nav-Skid to help Yumi corner the one following her.

"The closest I can figure is about fifty life points," Jérémie said. "They don't use the same point system we do."

"Good enough for me," Ulrich said, shooting at the ship attacking him.

Aélita kept watch over the four Nav-Skids, ready to help where she could. Ulrich and her mom were handling their own against one each while Yumi and Odd tag-teamed the last one. She watched as Yumi made the killing shot, getting her to yell out in excitement.

"You help Ulrich, I'll help Aélita's mom," Odd said, turning towards the black accented Nav-Skid.

"I can hold my own, cat-boy," Anthea said, flying the ship away from the monster as it took aim and shot at her. A sound of shock escaped her as it hit the back of her Nav-Skid.

Aélita glanced down at her instruments, seeing half of the Nav-Skid's life gone as red warning lights took over her cockpit. "Momma!" she exclaimed.

"Mrs. Hopper, don't take another hit!" Jérémie said, worry in his voice.

"Ulrich, stall!" Yumi ordered, her voice barely registering in Aélita's mind as the two fought their own monster.

Aélita flew over to her mother and Odd, knowing Ulrich and Yumi could handle themselves. "Mom, let Odd handle it," Aélita said, worry in her chest. "One more hit to your Nav-Skid and you'll be lost to the Digital Sea forever."

"I can handle it," Anthea said, shooting off a torpedo only for it to miss as the monster dodged.

Odd took aim and shot at the monster himself as it let out another laser at Anthea. The monster blew up in an explosion of pixels as the laser made contact.

"Momma!" Aélita cried out, watching unable to do anything as the Nav-Skid exploded, pixels acting like bubbles escaping upwards as it fell down towards the thick data stream below them.

Odd followed the ship down, getting a glimpse inside only to stop in his decent. "No!" Odd exclaimed, his mike peaking as he slammed his fists into his control panel.

"Jérémie," Aélita said, her body frozen. "Jérémie, please tell me…" her voice cracked and disappeared from her own use.

"I'm sorry Aélita," Jérémie said, the emotion thick in his voice.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Aélita sat curled in Jérémie's arms as the two sat on his bed. She felt Yumi's hand brushing through her hair and knew Ulrich, Odd, and Kiwi were in the room. She wanted to continue crying but no more tears were there to cry. Everyone's parents had given their condolences when the four had returned to Earth but there was none that would touch Aélita's heart. An hour ago the parents had left, them needed to get back to work after the week-end. Yumi's parents had offered her to stay over for at least the week-end so she wouldn't be alone but that was a part of what she wanted. She planned to cry herself to sleep that night with only the comfort of her two elves.

Her mother was truly dead.

"What about that program you used to save Yumi when she fell into the Digital Sea?" Ulrich asked, looking up from where he sat on the floor.

"That was an Odd-Candy Accident program," Jérémie admitted, his voice hushed. "I still don't know what he pressed."

"Oh."

Kiwi jumped onto the bed, getting a started sound from Odd as the dog curled himself in Aélita's lap, resting his head on her knee.

"Thank you for trying," Aélita said, her voice hoarse as she started petting Kiwi.

"Nothing to thank us for," Odd mumbled.

Aélita turned her head to look at Jérémie. "I guess we should tell Grandma," she mumbled.

Jérémie reached over and carefully wiped a thumb under her eyes, brushing away dried tears. "I'll ask my parents," he said.

An alert sounded from Jérémie's computer, getting Aélita to bold out of his arms to sit straight. Jérémie got to his feet and dashed over to his computer, Aélita and her friends right behind him.

"Is it Xana?" Yumi asked.

Aélita rested her hands on the desk as she looked at the text window on Jérémie's computer.

"No, it's Franz," Jérémie said, readjusting his glasses as he sat in the chair. He read it in silence before exclaiming, "Aélita! He saved your mom!"

"What?" Aélita asked, leaning closer to read what was on the screen.

"Her data is corrupt, I'm trying to fix it but I saved her in a digital envelop on the supercomputer," Jérémie read, skipping through the message. He opened a window, accessing the supercomputer storage, and found the file mentioned. A window appeared with Anthea's T-posed structure that stood visible corrupt, pieces of her missing. Beside it was a defragging program working on putting her back together again.

"There's always hope," Ulrich said, giving Aélita a side hug.

The End

AN: I'm sorry! I teared up a few times writing this story, I didn't want Anthea to die, but I needed it to line back up to the last few episodes.

ODD: You say that now, I've seen the outline for the next story.

AN: There's always hope, Odd.

ODD: Sure, loads of 'ope! Just get working on The End Battle.

AN: Hopefully (since I'm writing this in MAY, time traveling people) I'll have The End Battle being released on my normal schedule of a chapter every Tuesday after this one has finished. Sorry about spamming this story out there but hey, it's finished. I didn't dangle a story idea at you only to leave it hanging! HA! See you all in a week!

FAN (Future Author's Note): The End Battle is now A New Battle. Also I realized I never told you where to find the cringy original version of this. If you go to Lyoko Freak and look at the stories in the most recent panel you should see it. That shows how old that site is. Same title though I think it had a problem with the apostrophe.


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